A familiar flash of warmth touched the back of Ben Solo's consciousness. It wasn't enough to induce the stillness that usually came with it, but instead it brought the familiar feeling of dread that had lingered in the force like a foul stench front and center. But, as quickly as it came it slipped out of his grasp.
It was Rey, and something was wrong, so horribly wrong, he thought.
When another flash of warmth, her warmth, came to him he latched on. That feeling of dread came back, begging him to follow the tenuous string that connected him and Rey. Ben obeyed, dismissing his generals from their meeting and making Hux's face turn red and spit something about how he couldn't just do that in the middle of a strategy meeting! Making Ben's hand twitch in annoyance.
Rey! He thought to her as he chased after her presence through the grey halls of the Dreadnought he was on. But, as he chased her the connection abruptly cut off leaving a physical ache in his chest. The bond has never been this unstable, no thats the wrong word he thought Strained that's it, it's never been this strained. A rock settled in his stomach and his heart quickened as he followed the forces urging to go somewhere, find Rey, it whispered at him bombarding him from his left and right, from behind him from everywhere guiding to his room. As he got closer and closer the ache got stronger and stronger. Passing the grey uniforms, black droids, and white storm troopers that permeated the ship at all times. Once he reached his room, my sanctuary, he thought the familiar stillness and soundless echoing hit him like a space freighter entering hyperspace and all he felt was fear, all consuming fear.
"Rey," he called feeling her growing desperation, "Where are you?" Relief washed through Ben when he saw her, but the ache in his chest spread through his body and to his head. She's far, too far, no where in the galaxy is this far, where is she? He thought.
"I don't know,"she said her voice trembling. "One minute I was meditating and the next I'm in the middle of a war zone on some strange planet." She was covered in a fine brown dust, and doged something coming at her. "Did you change the stormtroopers armor? It looks strange." she said rolling to the side.
All Ben saw up until then was his room and Rey (Beautiful Rey), her hair was only half up in a ponytail, her grey robes and brown belt were dirty. But, then the pain in his head and his chest was morphed into a singularity of pain, he placed a black gloved hand over his black torso, and his breath quickened. Please be okay, please be, the strain felt like a rubber band about to snap, she glanced at his lightsaber, and realizing what she needed- something anything-he grabbed his lightsaber and handed it to her. She snatched out of his hands and turned it on. A tear rolled down her cheek Thank you! She thought to him.
Ben looked closer, and reached out with the force. Maybe if I can find out where she is, he thought, and then the all encompassing dread came back full force as he saw where she was. The planet was brown Twi'leks and Stormtroopers, No clone troopers but how he corrected, littered the ground. A ship was near her. Ryloth, he thought. A flash of white out of the corner of his eye and he saw a clone trooper with yellow painting his white armor shoot at her. Panting because of the effort his vision blurred. No! He wouldn't let himself pass out not when he was so close to finding her. Find her, Save her, Find her, Save her, Find her, the force chanted as it seemed like time itself slowed and he used the force to push her out of the way of the fire. After, all Ben solo saw was white and the tightness in his head, his chest, his entire body shattered into a billion little pieces.
Brown, everything here was brown. From the ground, to the plants, to the mountain range in the distance, it was all brown.
Rey had no idea how she got here, on this planet crawling with old ships, old blasters, and stormtroopers. Their armor was strange, some even had colors painted on, Since when was individuality allowed? She thought, and then the emptiness in the force hit her. Leia, Finn, Poe, Rose, everyone she knew and loved was gone. Everyone. Ben, no not Ben! Desperately she grasped out with the force, searching, anything to know he's alive. Please anything! But when she grasped out there was no one she knew, only a spark of Ben was still there, and it was fading fast. The force felt strange and it took all her concentration while she was hiding behind a rock to find something that even vaguely resembled his presence and she tried to connect, to feel the familiar storm that was Ben solo, but it hurt, her head, her heart, her hair all hurt. But shot's were fired in her dircetion. Once she was able to get a firm grasp on his presence she could have cried from happiness. And when she had his lightsaber (a feat she didn't understand) she did cry.
Then she was pushed out of the way, a shot passed by her brown eyes, the force rippled and Ben was there, unconscious but there, He's alive! She thought as she kneeled down checking him over quickly brushing his black curls off his pale face. She heard footsteps coming closer, "Stop! He needs a medic!" she said raising her hands up lightsaber deactivated and on her hip, the troopers didn't recognize her or him, Where are we? Her mind was reeling from the fact that Ben was there when she felt a sharp pain and the fell to the ground.
