The Phantom landed on the turf of Corellia, dirt flying everywhere as the ship touched down. Ezra flicked off the controls and stood, moving down the shuttle to the door. Whiplash made a move to rear up but hesitated, thinking better of the action and jumped down from the seat to the floor. However, Ezra noticed how close Whiplash was walking next to him and smiled a little. Things were getting better, slowly yes, but they were.

"So Commander Sato said that their base is in the middle of the jungle" Whiplash spoke up when they got outside.

"So, there we go I suppose?" Ezra shrugged.

Whiplash nodded and grew into his larger form. He looked over at Ezra expectantly who seemed to be having trouble figuring out what he was implying.

"What are you waiting for? A formal invitation written in fancy writing on a peice of paper? Get on" Whiplash huffed.

"W-What? You're serious?" Ezra stared.

"Well duh, you're my rider aren't you?" Whiplash lifted an eyeridge.

Ezra grinned and Whiplash saw the sixteen year old boy he met what felt like years ago, flash before his eyes. Ezra moved forward and hauled himself on to Whiplash's back, settling himself between his large wings.

"You gonna have enough support back there?" Whiplash asked, "you'll have a smaller chance of falling off if you're holding onto my horns."

"Nah, I'll be fine for now Whiplash, don't worry" Ezra smiled reassuringly.

The dragon gave a nod and his gaze went forward again. Ezra grasped Whiplash's narrow spikes and locked his knees in. He knew he should've put himself in his normal place he normally did when flying Whiplash, but it didn't feel right. Not right now anyway. Until they were completely at ease with each other.

"Chop, stay with the ship and scan for any signs of the rebels okay?" Ezra called, "keep the com handy as well, we still don't know what happened to the rebels so anything could be out here."

Chopper warbled and his scanner popped up from on top his head, spinning as he got feedback from Corellia.

"You ready?" Whiplash asked.

"As I'll ever be" replied Ezra.

"Alright, hang on."

Whiplash shook himself, still getting used to having weight on his back again. It had been a while since he'd had his rider flying with him. His claws thudded on the ground as he took a few bounds forward, he kicked off with his back legs, his broard wings extending outwards and flapping. Instantly, Whiplash took off, soaring into the bright sky. He heard a yell and quickly snapped his gaze back to Ezra. But what he saw eased any terrifed thought. The teen was laughing, hands above his head as the cool air swept past. His eyes were watering due to the wind but he kept them open, his blue pupils shining with joy. Whiplash smiled fondly, he had forgotten how relishing it was to see Ezra grinning like an idiot and enjoying something as simple as a flight. A rumble echoed up his throat and he was startled to realize he was purring. How long had been since he'd purred properly? Probably back before Kabera's destruction. Anything after that was forced or fake.

'Wow' Whiplash thought, turning back to face ahead, 'I didn't even notice.'

It wasn't long before they spotted smoke in the distance, no doubt belonging to the rebels base.

"Hang on Ezra" Whiplash said over his shoulder, "I'm gonna speed up."

On instinct, the boy clutched the spikes and lowered himself down. Whiplash lifted his wings and flapped them in a way Ezra had never seen him do before. They drifted backwards before swerving forwards in a circle, boosting Whiplash across the jungle.

"Since when could you do this?" Ezra shouted over the wind.

"A lot has changed over the last six months Ezra!" Whiplash called back, "and you haven't seen anything yet, this is nothing compared to my Sonic Charge."

He moved out of the trees way and emerged over the base...or what was left of it. The building was nothing but rubble, fires still burning nearby. Trees and vines had crushed what looked to be the ship hangar. Vehicles were on their sides, fuel pooling around them, releasing a chemical odor into the air. Then there was the bodies. There must've been twenty of them scattered across the site, Ezra could smell the blood from where he was. Bile began to rise in his throat but he couldn't take his eyes away from the horrific scene.

"Let's take a look around for survivors" Whiplash's voice brought Ezra's trance.

The boy nodded, swallowing the slowly rising liquid and gripped Whiplash's spikes harder than neccessary to stop his hands shaking. Whiplash landed carefully on the grass, making sure he didn't step on glass or sharp metal. While dragon scales were tough, they were still able to be pierced. Ezra was about to jump off but Whiplash put a talon on his shoulder, stopping him.

"I don't want you hurting yourself, Hera would have my head if you got impaled by glass or something. Just stick up there for a few minutes will you?" 

Ezra nodded, understanding what his dragon was saying. After getting the nod, Whiplash turned back to the scene ahead of him. Carefully picking his path around the scrap and blood, Whiplash sniffed left and right, horns up in a sign of alertness.

"Hello?"

Whiplash glanced over at Ezra who's hands were cupped around his mouth, calling.

"Anyone out there? Hello?!"

Coughing.

Whiplash's head snapped round so fast his neck clicked.

"Woah, what is it Whiplash?" Ezra asked.

"I heard someone."

"I didn't hear anything."

"A dragons hearing is more sharper than a humans, I heard someone, trust me on this."

Whiplash jumped over a chunk of metal, narrowly missing his underbelly being torn open. He picked his way through the scrap heap then stopped abruptly.

"Ezra. Don't look" he said firmly.

"What?"

"Don't look."

Ezra closed his eyes and put his hands over his face for good measure. "What is it?"

Whiplash exhaled, eyelids shutting for a few brief seconds. "Something that will haunt me for a few days."

Oh.

Ezra, even though he couldn't see, could picture the bodies Whiplash was most likely standing over. He shuddered.

"Keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them" Whiplash said, reopening his eyes and carefully moving around the rebels burned carcasses. That was something he would be having nightmares about for a while.

Once away from the bodies, Whiplash growled to Ezra; "you can look now" to which the boy put his hands down and eyes opened. "Call again" Whiplash said. "I heard someone after you shouted, try it again."

Ezra complied, cupping his hands round his mouth. "Anyone out there?!"

Another cough made Whiplash look to the north. He moved quickly, careful to avoid the scrap lying around. A large chunk of metal stuck up from the ground a little bit ahead, lying by it was a person in a blue uniform. However, there was a red patch on the side of it.

"Oh gods," and before Whiplash could stop him, Ezra had leapt from his back and bolted to the man.

"Ezra! Wait!" Whiplash followed quickly. 'Jesus he hasn't changed a bit.' The thought wasn't exactly comforting.

Ezra stopped above the rebel, dropping to his knees. "Sir, are you alright?" Ezra asked, gently supporting the elder's head.

The man shook his head, hand pressed against the far of his abdomen. "Side" he rasped, voice rough.

Ezra noticed the blood sliding from the man's mouth and gently wiped it away. "I'm going to look at it, okay?" A small nod before a hiss of pain was all Ezra needed to know this wasn't going to be pretty.  Carefully, he gently pulled the guy's hand away and flinched, biting his lip. A piece of metal was embedded deeply in the man's torso.

"Karabast, that looks bad. Whiplash, use your tears, you might be able to-"

"No" the rebel shook his head the best he could, "no, don't use your tears on me. I'm a lost cause, they'll be better used on a valuable person."

"But-"

"Listen to me, everyone else moved to the caves for shelter" the man coughed roughly. "You need to find them and get them out of here."

"Where are the caves?" asked Ezra.

The rebel lifted a trembling hand and pointed east but it dropped to the ground again almost as soon as it had been lifted.

"That way...you must...hurry..."

He coughed again and gave a sharp intake of air, but he didn't exhale it out. His chest still and eyes open but glassy. Ezra tightened his lips, looking away.

"Ezra" Whiplash began to rise. "We need to find the other rebels, we haven't got a lot of time. Remember what Sato told us, we need to move quickly in case the Empire returns."

"Yeah...I know."

Whiplash winced at Ezra's low voice, he'd heard the tone many times in his life.

"Ezra, even if we got here sooner, you know it wouldn't have made a difference. That metal is embedded pretty deep" he said, not sure if he was helping the situation or not. "The best thing we can do right now is find the other rebels."

Ezra slowly stood. "I just can't help but feel like I could've done something."

"Trust me" Whiplash sighed, "I know how that feels. But we gotta move."

Ezra nodded. "He said the others would be in the caves?" He looked to where the guy had pointed.

"Yeah, the jungles canopy is going to be too thick from above, we'll have to walk through to find the caves. No way in hell are we gonna see anything from up there" Whiplash said.

"Karabast" Ezra sighed.

"You know, you're telling me I need to work on my language, you need to update yours" Whiplash chuffed.

"Are you saying I need to swear more?"

"No, I'm saying you need to know some better swear words for when you need them."

"If I remember correctly, you taught me six, I just haven't used them."

"Yeah, mum gave me an earfull for telling you those."

Ezra's common smirk ghosted on his face for a few seconds before he turned away and went towards the thicker part of the jungle.

"Nuh uh, nope, come here." Whiplash hoisted Ezra onto his back by grabbing the back of the boy's collar in his teeth. "Remember what I told you? You're staying up there till we're clear of this mess."

Ezra pouted, crossing his arms muttering something incoherently.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

But by Ezra's small grin, Whiplash could tell it wasn't 'nothing', and it wasn't anything bad. Well, unless you counted Ezra calling Whiplash names bad. Once they'd gotten far enough away from the scrap wreck, Whiplash stopped.

"Okay short stack, here you go" Whiplash placed his wing talons underneath Ezra's arms and hauled him off his back to the ground.

"Thank you kind sir" Ezra straightened his jacket and bowed deeply, "your help will be remembered for generations. I shall tell my kin of your graciousness."

Whiplash lightly smacked the back of Ezra's head with the tip of his tail. "Oh shut up" he rolled his eyes, relieved their old banter had returned.

Same old same old.

Ezra grinned and stood tall again. "Come on Lightning Breath, we gotta move."

Whiplash faulted, staring at Ezra.

"What? You called me Short Stack, it's only fair I call you a nickname as well. Besides, that was one of your favourites. Or should I refer to you as Lightning Rod?"

"Ezra" Whiplash groaned."No."

Ezra laughed. "Oh yeah you really hated that one, what were the others? Lightning Magnet, Bullet, Egotistical Maniac-"

"Ezra you have five seconds to run."

The teen snickered but it turned into a shriek when Whiplash grabbed him and tossed him into the air. He caught him with his wings and threw him again.

"WHIPLASH! HOLY KRONG! PUT ME DOWN!" Ezra yelled, half laughing.

The dragon caught him with a florish and popped him on the ground again. "Language Ezra" he teased, bending down to his level "who taught you such fowl words?"

"You, you overgrown lizard!" Ezra pushed Whiplash's muzzle away, grinning.

Whiplash chuckled. "Damn right."

Rolling his eyes, Ezra hauled himself to his feet, placing his hand on a tree near him for support. Suddenly, he gasped, fingers curling and opposite hand clutching the back of the other.

Whiplash, on instinct, quickly stooped to check if Ezra was alright. "Lemme see" he said, mood suddenly serious.

Ezra hesiatated before uncurling his fingers. Blood was dripping from a jaggered cut on his palm.

"Goddam it Ezra" Whiplash sighed, "I told you to be careful."

"How the hell was I supposed to know there was metal there?!" Ezra asked indignantly.

Whiplash rolled his eyes. Yup, this was definitely the same kid he had left six months ago.