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[kotic-kryptid]

Flesh & Steel: Complete

O.M.GGGGGG it's done! Flesh & Steel is officially completed! It's 340K words, which is insane. Sorry I haven't been very active about posting on here. Life is crazy, and honestly, writing and posting on AO3 were about all I could do. But it's done and posted along with an extensive explanation of the lore.

Enjoy!

I'm off to try writing an original novel now lol.

[kotic-kryptid]

Chapter 27: A Family Battle is up!

Could she tell, he wondered. Could she tell he was still half out of his mind with want, sparks jumping up and down his spine in the wake of Khara’s every touch? Was it obvious that he had just had his world upended, a heart bared to him and thrust between his own?

Was it fear that ate at his desire, turning his overheated skin cold?

You love her, Savage said. He sounded like he was smiling.

Read it here

[kotic-kryptid]

Chapter 31 Preview

He cleared his throat as quietly as possible. She lifted her face, catching the way he tugged his lip between his teeth before he thought better of it. But there were better uses for his teeth than abusing himself. Intending to make those known, she tugged first one boot, then the other, before surging upward and catching his lips with hers. His breath gusted against her cheek, one hand pressing warm against her lower back. 

“Bed.” She mumbled around kisses. 

[kotic-kryptid]

Chapter 24 Preview

“You are capable of interacting with an object’s history and the traces of the Force that have touched it. The stronger the memory, the more the Force… lingers.”

She nodded emphatically. “Exactly!”

“It is called psychometry.”

Khara perked up. “You’ve heard of it?! What do you know about it? Is it why we have this bond thing? Is it not so strong because I’m not really strong in the Force?”

“I know little of psycometry. However, I have been reconsidering my understanding of your connection to the Force. Something tells me you are not weak, merely… different. Your skills lie elsewhere. If we relate strength in the Force to a naturally stronger muscle… Force users are more inclined towards lower-body strength, let us pretend. If we measured all Force sensitives in the same way, some would slip through the cracks. You are more inclined toward upper-body strength, to use the same analogy. Do you understand?”

“I’m not weak, I’m just… strong in ways people usually aren’t.”

“Precisely.”

Khara frowned at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but he just kept staring back, his thoughts hidden. She shook her head.

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. We will have to investigate further.

[kotic-kryptid]

Deleted Scene: Maul & Feral were twins

“I… I remember him though I never met him.” Maul spoke so softly Khara had to lean closer. “I remember him dying.

There was fear but it was almost always mine. Confusion, though that was mine. And then pain, not mine. Not all of it. Not where I always felt it.” He rubbed his stomach absently. “Then nothing. The return to the beast I was. I heard him sometimes when I was young. I had learned to ignore it. There were memories that were not mine, and Master always said they were my weakness manifesting in dreams and visions. But it was Feral reaching for me.”

“Did you ever reach back?”

He nodded slowly. “Once, though he did not know me. Savage said I had another name, one an older Nightbrother sometimes called me. They knew nothing of another brother, but Viscus spoke of a child who had been taken.”

“You had another name?” 

“Maul is the name I was given by my master. In his adulthood, Savage forgot it. Mother never divulged it to me. And Feral...  That final flash of pain was the last time I heard him. Then Savage found me.”

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I cut it, but I still kinda liked this bit. Maul said he was known by another name once, and it’s never really said if he meant “formerly Darth” or is Maul is a name Sidious chose. 

[kotic-kryptid]

Warmth encased the back of her neck and she jumped again, staring at his sunburst eyes as his hand gripped her. He squeezed gently; his thumb rubbed the nape of her neck. A shiver ran through her. Gently, he pulled her forward until her forehead rested against his. His breath washed over her, a strange mix of something herbal and sharp, a tea she didn’t recognize, probably. Her heart was louder than the battle raging below, and around them she could feel surprise, sharp and confused as the others watched. She stared at the pitch black of his eyelids, confused and shivery, her stomach forgetting its nerves in favor of the warmth of his hand. This was… something, something important and close, a gesture she only understood he wouldn’t give anyone else.

“Stay with me.” He whispered. She closed her eyes and breathed out. He gripped her tighter, pressing her once more into his forehorn. “With me.”

“Okay.” She said.

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This scene has been in my head since Chapter 1. 

[kotic-kryptid]

Sneak Peek - Sparring

Saifi, perched atop some of the gym’s equipment, cupped her hands over her mouth.

“Lord Maul wins again!” She shouted. Maul’s lips ticked up further. “Who will defeat our reigning champion?!”

“I’ll do it.” Khara raised her hand. Maul whipped around, his eyes wide. A low “ooh” traveled around their little audience. Khara grinned. “Wanna take me on, pretty boy?”

He rolled his shoulders. Extending one hand, he curled his fingers in. Khara pulled herself up into the ring and ducked under the ropes.

“Lady Khara challenges Lord Maul!” Saifi cried. “Coming in with no formal combat training and an attitude Maul wants to smack out of her, she grabs…”

Khara grabbed two beskar staffs, short and light but longer than her daggers.

“Tandem staffs,” Saifi continues, “to go against Lord Maul’s bo! Will she be able to hold out? Will Lord Maul ever tire?”

“I have tired of your shouting.” He shot back at his little apprentice. Saifi giggled, rocking back on her precarious perch.

Khara couldn’t help but laugh. “Been a while.” She said when she’d gotten it back under control. Maul spun his staff carefully. He nodded. 

Saifi shouted for them to greet their opponents. Khara wasn’t sure what the Mandalorian way was with this. She followed Maul’s lead when he stepped to the center and performed the tiniest bow. She bowed back. When the bell rang, she sprang up to plant a kiss on his cheek, making him freeze just long enough for her to whack him in the ribs.

“Point.” She grinned. He brought his guard up, a faint growl rumbling across the air. “First to ten?”

“Very well.”

“Don’t go easy on me.”

“You will have to make it a challenge, my lady.”

Khara swung the staffs, testing their weight again. Her daggers were one thing. She could call them back without even thinking. She could wear him down with these as well, but using the Force as kinetically as he did required more focus from her. She could only maintain a kinetic connection to what he called the Living Force when she was perfectly calm. This would be a challenge, and a chance to demonstrate her new endurance against the constant battering of Dathomir’s memories.

She lunged in, flipping one staff into a backwards grip. Maul stepped back from her swing, bringing his staff up to block her. The beskar sang loudly, a clear bell that made Khara’s hearts sing. She understood why Mandalorians loved the metal. Maul swept her attack aside easily, bringing his staff into his chest and turning halfway to swing it around her back. She had to twist to block it, but just as quickly he was coming around the other side. He spun the staff like his saber, an extension of his arms that moved independently of his legs sometimes, his body faster and heavier than any opponent of his size Khara had ever fought.

He smacked her back.

“Point.” He said.

She swung up and clipped his shoulder.

“Point.” She panted.

He got her once on her shoulder in return and then again on her calf. He nudged their bond. She opened up. Amusement and pride washed over her through the Force, a joyful invitation that she understood when he flashed a grin at her.

Dance with me, he seemed to say. Play with me.

She laughed breathlessly, throwing off another swipe of his staff. He was going easy on her. But he returned her joy with his own, and she couldn’t find it in herself to call him out. One staff clattered away. She backpedaled as he advanced.

He never seemed to tire. She was flagging already, but she’d lasted longer than she expected. He was driving her toward the ropes. Ducking under his swing, she swiveled on her knees and leapt for her lost staff. She managed a kick at his ankles, using it to propel herself across the floor. Her hand closed around the warmed metal. She rolled at the last second, bringing both up in time to stop his downward swing. He leaned all his weight on her. She shoved hard, tossing him off long enough to scramble to her feet.

He gave her only a second to breathe before closing the gap again. Khara lost herself in the rhythm. All teasing gone now, Maul kept up his blows to keep her in the present, force her to focus on him. They traded blows one after the other, most of them blocked or dodged, a few connecting.

“Nine.” He growled finally, startling her. She jabbed almost reflexively, her fingers digging into his shoulder. He hissed, rearing back.

“Nine.” She counted off her own point. But he was already lunging, sweeping her to the ground again. She let him carry her down, using the momentum of their fall to twist and trap him in her arms. She used one hand to grab his horn and pull his head back. He jabbed back with one elbow just as she brought her other hand around to close around his throat.

“Ten.” They said at the same time. Maul chuckled. Groaning, Khara let him go and flopped onto the mat. In a real fight, Khara had the killing blow. But in a real fight, Maul would have dispatched her by his third move.

“Dammit.” She panted. Maul twisted easily, his hand stopping a hairsbreadth from her throat, the threat clear.

“Eleven. Yield.”

“Dammit!”

He dropped his hands on either side of her head, a grin spreading as he dropped his head and caught his breath. Distantly, Khara realized their audience had grown, that the buzz of noise had crescendoed into a cheer. Saifi was announcing Maul the winner.

“You went easy on me.” Khara said. He flopped over onto his back beside her.

“I am tired, Khara.”

“So you went even easier than normal.”

“I could kill you.” He mumbled.

“And find yourself a new business partner? Too much work.”

He chuckled. He flipped to his feet, and Khara groaned at the fact he still had energy for that. He helped her up, pulling her in just long enough to tap his forehead to hers.

“I’m going into the city tonight.” He whispered. “Come with me.”

“Why?”

“Because I asked.”

[kotic-kryptid]

*pulls myself up from the chasm* I LIVE. Uhhh hi, Flesh & Steel is still happening. We just finished Act 2! Go enjoy I hope