Things had progressed strangely from the moment she held out the sabre. She was prepared for much, she thought, but not to be ignored. After being dismissed, she looked to where she knew her ship was. The memories and the wrongs that needed to be addressed, the sacrifices that brought her here. She could not return to the General empty handed, not without her brother.
Because it could not end there, she followed him.
A day or perhaps a few more later of following the man around the small island, she wondered incredulously at what point during his strange daily routine he would address her, possibly even train her. She knew many were relying on her to bring this man back and learn something in the process. So she pressed on, keeping up with his stubborn but still seemingly inane habits. When he closed her off, she respected his space but still vowed to speak and reach out even through closed doors. Metaphorical or literal.
She was met without more than a few monosyllabic grunts at first, and it was draining even her stubborn scavenger nerves. Meditating on her own was a must for sanity. She never felt totally alone when she did, assuming it was the only other force user on the island. It soothed her to know he was at least reaching out in this way., even though he not once acknowledged it. Sometimes she could feel this light brush against her mind while in the Jedi's presence, but whenever she looked at him as if waiting for him to speak, he always met her gaze consideringly. Like he was having an entirely different conversation with her, or someone, in his head and she just couldn't understand it. It made her question..but question what, she did not know. And the moments in those first few days were far between all the times he avoided her.
Now, she sat outside the hut on her stone makeshift bed. It was another day of talking to a wall, thinking at a wall. She grew frustrated, she knew there was not much time. She could feel it. WIth her hair up in buns, her neck was bare to the breeze, the oddly warm wind that was blowing off the cool ocean. Recently it felt nearer, more tangible. Something within her, something dark that breathed just behind her ear. It was not logical, but felt natural. She could feel it now.
Perhaps she could only hear the intakes of breath, not the wind. She found her own air freezing in dread and anticipation, waiting for a voice. Why is that, do you think? A familiar voice, but still so strange.
She breathed out again, fighting the urge to twitch her head away from that sense of breathing. Of something that was awakening. Which is why she needed someone to show her what all of this means, and she felt bitter anger spark within her as she shifted on the rock, growing sore.
Frustration sparked through his veins again. The Supreme Leader debased him, after allowing him to complete his healing and training. It was absurd that he wasn't warranted admiration. No, instead the Supreme Leader mocked his offering to the dark side.
It should have been enough.
After his Master was finished with him, he retreated back to his quarters. Removing his mask, he tightened his fist as if to smash it up against the wall. Pausing, he felt a stranger sense of frustration take over him. A tightness in his back and neck made him eye the room consideringly before striding over to sit on his bed.
While he was oddly relieved to sit on the comfortable mattress, after a few moments It felt much less comfortable than just before. The air in his secure chambers was cooler as well, but the strangest thing of all was how very much alone he did not feel. It was strangely welcoming, and he picked his legs up and swing them around. While the bed underneath him felt almost like stone, it was warm and the force called him to rest. So he felt the darkness pull him down..
She was so tired. Even the stone underneath her felt softer. Her eyelids fluttered her breathing slowed, she could hear it echo in her head. A slow, relaxing intake and outtake of breath. It was so soothing, and she could feel the force wrapping itself around her, if that was how the force worked. She felt herself pulling her legs up to curl on the small shape of the flat rock she was sitting atop of. She thanked the force, if that's what it was, for making her feel as if she was laying in some luxurious bed the rebels on base had talked about in her brief stay. It was the sort of comfort that made one feel not alone.
Waking up in the morning to the sounds of the strange birds and other native creatures of this land, she stared up and over to the rising sun. It was getting more difficult to remember the specifics or how she felt before coming to this island to train. Within her, she felt as if perhaps the force was trying to push her in a certain direction.
Her arms were curled in on themselves as she was wrapped, curled into a ball. The stone was just as hard and unforgiving underneath her yet her muscles and body didn't feel the normal strain. She had slept on similar surfaces before, she knew the routine. This wasn't that.
Looking down for a moment, she saw nothing, but there was still that strange sense. Closing her eyes she could picture arms wrapped around her. It was like a shadow, some sort of darkness that was impossibly comforting. She turned her head slowly, still close enough to dreaming to be accepting of strange things, , keeping her eyes closed… She tried to feel with that energy within her, to learn more about this shadow...
Her use of the force brought the door she was resting outside of to open abruptly,
"Is everything alright, Rey?"
In the moment before her eyelids opened in surprise, she could almost see and definitely feel an absence of something take over around her, as if that shadow had been startled awake and away.