The cry of a Convor rung around the quiet base of Attalon. It flew in a circle before settling on a branch of a tall flower, chirping curiously as it looked down on the rebel below. Sabine had one eye closed as the fired at her set up targets, breathing steadily. Ten shots were fired and all hit their marks accordingly.

"You've improved."

The voice made Sabine start and accidently pull the trigger, knocking a Stormtrooper helmet off the crate she'd placed it on.

"And you can apparently still hit directly even if you get alarmed" Colour Fly mused with a grin.

"I don't usually miss" Sabine replied, slotting her firearms back in their holsters.

"I can see" Colour Fly sat down, horns perked up.

The Mandalorin went to her targets and reset them in different locations.

"There a reason you're here?" Sabine asked not unkindly, walking back.

"Just checking up on my favorite rebel" Colour Fly offered with a convincing smile. But not convincing enough.

Sabine crossed her arms, eyebrow lifted. "Spill it."

The Fire Horn dragon sighed with a small smile. "You always see right through me don't you?"

"It's an art, now talk to me girl."

Colour Fly's tail feathers drooped as she exhaled. "It's Whiplash."

"I suspected as much" Sabine pulled up a crate and sat down beside her dragon. "What's going on?"

"Before he left for the mission with Ezra and Chop, he confronted me. He said he was scared."

"Okay, 'Whiplash' and 'scared' in the same sentence isn't right."

"Mmm, that's how I felt. He told me he was scared about hurting Ezra, more than he has already. About screwing up and making things worse."

"Aaaand, what did you say?"

"I told him to simply relax and act like he used to around Ezra, become the Whiplash we used to know." Colour Fly sighed through her nose. "He didn't answer me after that, just nodded and left."

"You think he's done what you asked?"

Colour Fly shrugged. "I honestly don't know. He's changed so much over the past few months."

"Yeah, I noticed, kinda worrying isn't it?"

Colour Fly didn't answer for a moment, letting the silence drag out. "I wouldn't really call it 'worrying', it's more 'confusing' if anything else. But I won't deny I'm a little concerned. He and Ezra were like brothers, but now..."

"They still have a chance to get that back, they just need to talk" Sabine said. "It's like me and my guns. They need to work with me if I want to survive a battle."

Colour Fly raised an eye ridge in confusion.

"What I mean is, Whiplash and Ezra need to work together for their bond to survive. They're currently fighting a battle with their emotions and losing because they refuse to talk about it."

"Wow, never took you to be one with metaphors. How much time have you been spending with Kanan?" Colour Fly teased.

Sabine rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Oh hush."

Colour Fly smiled gently, her eyes softening as she gazed at Sabine. It was good to be back.

"And by the way Sabine," Colour Fly suddenly shot twelve blasts of fire at the helmets, knocking them all off. "You might want to work on hitting all the targets in one go."

"Yes mam" Sabine cracked a smirk.

__________________________________

It was too quiet in the caves of Corellia, so quiet that it made Ezra uncomfortable. After his jab at Whiplash about the seriousness of the situation of heat, the two had fallen into an angry silence. Now, walking through the cavern, he wished he hadn't said anything. The dragon wouldn't even look at him, let alone talk to him. His wounds from the fight had stopped bleeding, but the limp remained and it twinged at Ezra's heart every second. He wanted to ask but knew once Whiplash decided to give out the silent treatment, he followed through with it. He'd done this once before after Ezra had been forced to give him a bath after a battle on a particularly muddy planet.
The memory made him smile a little bit. Whiplash was NOT happy about the wash and wouldn't talk to Ezra for a solid twenty four hours. It took a lot of explaining about personal hygiene and promising food to get the reptile to speak to him again.
Was that seriously what Whiplash wanted again??

"Wait."

The sudden voice made Ezra freeze. He glanced up at Whiplash who wasn't even sparing him a look. His horns were up and revolving different ways, eyes flicking across the cave walls.

"What?" Ezra asked.

Whiplash didn't reply at first, senses still at work. "Ezra" he said slowly after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think the rebels are here."

"What are you on about? That guy told us-"

"He was delusional with pain. And even if the rebels did go this deep, their oxygen wouldn't have lasted a solid forty eight hours. They all died in the attack, we came through here for nothing."

Ezra stared at Whiplash as if he'd spoken a foreign language. "How the hell did you figure that out?"

"The base lost contact with Yavin two days ago, the rebels oxygen wouldn't have lasted two days down here with the amount of people there were. Not to mention the creature I fought would've slaughtered them if they did come down here."

"Are you sure?"

Whiplash hesitated, glancing down at Ezra. "No...I'm not sure, but I'm thinking logically. What do you think?"

Ezra held Whiplash's gaze, biting his lip. "What if there are still people down here though? We could still save them."

Whiplash exhaled through his nose. "Ezra, think about this. We're both strong assets to the Rebellion, both needed, both cared about. The rebels at this base knew the risks of war, if we stay down here, we could die. How many people would care if they're gone, how many people would care if we go?"

"Are you saying these people aren't important?"

"I'm saying that our lives have more value than theirs."

Nope. No no no. NOPE. No way in hell. This couldn't be Whiplash speaking right now. Whiplash never turned his back on people. Never.

"Whiplash?"

"Yes?"

"I can't leave wondering if people are still down here."

Whiplash leveled Ezra with half lidded eyes, but they held sadness and a touch of fondness. "I know you won't. But we haven't got a choice."

"Whiplash-"

A rock from above smacked Ezra on his head making him stumble. "What the hell-"

The ceiling suddenly opened up with six holes.

"KID! MOVE!" Whiplash sprung forwards, grabbing Ezra's collar and yanking him out of the downfall of rocks.

Six of those large, multi coloured felines dropped from the roof of the cavern, snarling and hissing.

"Druk! Are you freaking kidding me?!" Whiplash cursed. "Can't you give us a break?!"

The alien cats snarled in response, tails swinging in anguish.

"You really want to go through this again?" Whiplash growled, eyeing the smallest of the pride which had burnt patches all over its violet fur.

The beast rumbled deeply in the back of its throat, eyes narrowed at the dragon.

"Fine, have it your way."

Whiplash's barbs snapped up, claws extending and lips rolling back to display his teeth. "Ezra, stay behind me, I'll hold them off."

"But-"

"I said stay back."

Ezra flinched at the harshness from Whiplash's tone, eyeing the midnight slits that were the dragon's pupils.

"Be careful" was all he could say.

"I will be, just stay out of the way" Whiplash responded, still holding the firmness in his voice.

Ezra shrank back as Whiplash took stance, tail twitching as he waited for the cats to make the first move.