Thanks for checking out my first star wars fanfic! please note the rating, as this will eventually turn into a Kylo/OC writing. Feel free to leave a review or favorite!
It was too hot today.
She knew that from the second she woke up, drenched in sweat. Her bedsheets were damp, thrown about as if she had tried to fight them in her sleep. Her room was humid, the net covering her bed riddled with black insects. She had left the fucking window open, again.
At night, when the sun would dip below the trees and into the deep blue lake. She would sit on her window frame, feeling the cool breeze on her neck as she read. Baba would constantly nag at her for it, as the loud chirping of insects seemed to wake her up. From three doors away, apparently.
She batted away the bug netting, sweat nearly dripping off her in beads as she slammed her window shut. The cool air from the vents would soon relieve her of the dreadful stickiness. Her eyes dragged her attention away from the impending dawn, drawn to the mirror on her vanity.
She looked appalling. Her body was glistening with sweat, her mane of red locks sticking in every direction. Her expression looked tired, as tints of purple flashed under her eyes. Her sleep was filled with nightmares, masked men with blasters and something more sinister than she could describe. A man in all black, an intricate design on his mask. He had a pulsating red lightsaber, with two beams of light coming out on either side slightly below the saber. She would always wake up right before she was cut into bits.
"Rylia! Your breakfast is going to get cold." She heard Baba screech from the level below her.
That damned woman, she exclaimed silently. Rylia could not remember the first time she saw Baba, as she was only an infant when her mother disposed of her like…
Don't think about her them, she mentally scolded herself.
Rylia quickly composed herself, dancing out of her night gown into a simple blue skirt and white cotton shirt. She tucked in the bottom of her shirt, buckling the leather tunic that fell just below her breasts. Lacing her boots, she nearly tripped over Baba as she came crashing down the stairs.
"Slow the hell down, my gods." Baba exclaimed. "You have too much energy for me now, I miss when you were still trying to stick forks up your nose."
Rylia laughed. "And I miss when you weren't a grumpy old woman, Baba."
Baba swatted her playfully with her daily copy of the newspaper, fixing the huge beaded glasses that sat perched on her nose. "Have you done your studies from last night?"
She nodded, her mouth full.
"And what exactly, did you learn?" Baba prodded, her face masked of emotion.
Rylia sheepishly tried to think of an excuse, trying to come up with facts about a useless planet she would never travel to. "I was reading about the Jedi, Baba."
The newspaper came down on her knees sharply, the noise startling Rylia. Her caretakers face was astonished, as if she was speaking a different language. "When did you become so interested in the Jedi?"
"Well" Rylia started. "When I went to the bookstore, G'ydar was talking to a customer about the time long before me, when Jedi were as normal as a human. They were-"
"Enough!" Baba snapped. "You know nothing about the Jedi. That was long before your time, you're right about that little girl. They are gone, and will never return as long as the First Order remains." She spat at the floor, a sight that made Rylia roll her eyes.
Baba was very superstitious, and very protective. She remembered the countless drills they would do, Baba showing her all of the hiding places in their quaint house. It was as if she worried about some slaver snatching Rylia up in the middle of the night. Baba was especially emotional about any talk of The Force. This made Rylia's curiosity peak even more, unfortunately for Baba.
"Then teach me." Rylia pleaded. "I'm bored of what they teach in school."
"One day" Baba's eyes glassed over, as if she was somewhere far away. "I will teach you everything. But you are not ready yet. You are still my little girl."
"I'm not a little girl, Baba. I'm nearly 20 orbits now!"
"I didn't mean that you were young in age. Your heart is young, innocent. Hopefully there will never become a day where your heart is as old as mine."
Those words struck her, an unfamiliar pang in her chest. Baba was always upbeat and chirpy, getting up before the dawn to feed her cattle, tend to their farmhouse, and never seemed to complain. It made Rylia wonder the horrors her caretaker had seen in the world. Nearly 90 orbits old, Baba was beginning to show signs of her age. She would often forget where her glasses were, or wander out of her room at night calling out for faces long since past.
"Don't get all emotional on me now. You might even make the little girl cry." Rylia would normally hold her sass in front of others, but not Baba.
"I'm going out to feed the chickens, you inconsolable brat." Baba shot back, her wispy lips curled up in a devilish smile.
"Alright. Since school is out today, I might travel into the city, if you're alright with that." Rylia could try her luck all she wanted, but she was never allowed outside of Baba's sight unless she was going to school. Even then, her neighbor Arkrad had to walk her both ways.
"And I'm going to travel to Scarif." She cackled, her old body creaking as she hobbled out the kitchen door into the grass fields outside.
To say Rylia was bored in her life was an understatement. When she wasn't doing her schoolwork, she would just sit and stare at the ceiling, begging for something important to happen. Naboo was beautiful, but their farmland was out in the middle of nowhere. Their television hardly worked, and only got boring news stations and plays in another language.
After her daily studies, Rylia made sure Baba was outside before cracking open her book about the Jedi. She constantly daydreamt about the past, when the most powerful one there was visited Naboo with his wife. Love was a strange concept to her. She saw girls her age getting boyfriends and fawning over the attractive men, but Rylia never had an interest. Her interest was knowledge.
A faint shudder of the house made her look up from her book. It was too loud for it to be natural, as sometimes the huge waterfalls outside would crack under weight and send massive boulders into the rich waters below. This sounded mechanical. She peered outside her window, pushing the fabric curtains aside to look into the grasslands.
What she saw caused her heart to drop into her stomach. What seemed to be three dozen stormtroopers lined the gates of her home, a turret mounted on wheels behind them. She heard Baba's words echoing in her mind, screaming at her to hide. She pushed her chair out, the wood screeching on the floor. She ran up to the third floor of her house, which was nothing more than a large room for storage. Rylia found the painting of Queen Amadala, covered in dust and spiderwebs due to age. Pushing it aside, she crawled into the small hole dug into the wall.
Rylia held in a whimper as she heard the front door slam open, the sound of boots rushing through. They seemed to automatically know where she was, as not even five minutes later the painting was thrown aside and six blasters were pointed at her face. She screamed, trying to kick her way out. Her heart was pounding in her chest, adrenaline coursing through her veins. They didn't shoot her however, instead trying to apprehend her.
"Let me go!" She squealed, feeling her arms twist behind her back. Metalic handcuffs were slapped on her wrists, so tight the circulation was cut off from her hands. Rylia soon realized they weren't going to kill her, not yet. They wanted something from her, something she didn't know. They shuffled her out of the house, the wind whipping her ginger hair into her face. Since her hands were immobilized, all she could do was spit out the strands that got stuck in her mouth.
Her heart stopped when she saw Baba, on her knees in front of a dark cloaked figure. She seemed unaffected, as if she knew this was going to happen. She watched in horror as the figure pulled out a large cylindrical baton, red fire spitting out of it, and held it to Baba's throat.
"Rylia! Do not tell them anything. The force will-" Baba howled, a tone that she had never once used. She didn't finish the sentence, as the saber decapitated her.
Rylia's legs buckled underneath her, howls of sorrow coming out of her mouth. The storm troopers tried to yank her up, but she thrashed and used all her might to get out of their hold. A blaster to the base of her neck caused her vision to go black.
Her smell came back to her first. The strong sting of something antiseptic hit her nose, causing it to scrunch. Her head pounded, yet felt dulled by some sort of pain killer. Her eyes felt glued shut, and it felt like ages before she could pry them open. Instantly she tried to shield her eyes from the hot white light, but her arms were tied down.
Taking in her environment, she was strapped to a table in some sort of room. She assumed she was on an airship, by the subtle hum of an engine and slight turbulence. Two stormtroopers guarded the inside of the door, one of them hastily stepping out the second she woke up. Rylia knew struggling would do nothing, as her hands and legs were fastened to the table by thick metal.
All she could do was watch the ceiling as warm, salty tears cascaded down her face. She noticed there was a needle in the crook of her left elbow, connected to a bag that hung by a metal pole. The liquid inside was a milky white substance, something she couldn't recognize. She had only been to a healer a handful of times in her life, as Baba kept her quite sheltered. One time, she got so ill as a child she had to stay at the healers for two weeks.
The door behind her whooshed open, and she couldn't stretch her neck to see who was entering. She waited until the figure was right next to her, studying her captor. They were tall and lean, wearing an intricate black cloak and matching black pants and boots. They wore a black mask, with silver lining starting at the eyes and wrapping around the back.
"Why am I here?" She croaked, her throat crackling from dehydration.
The figure said nothing, instead taking a gloved hand and slowly pushing a strand of hair away from her face. She suddenly felt something she never experienced before. It was as if something was cramming inside the base of her neck, trying to crawl up her spine and into her brain. It wasn't painful, but extremely uncomfortable. Rylia pushed against the feeling, trying to force the feeling to stay back in her neck. The figure cocked its' neck slightly at this, noticing her fight.
"What are you hiding from me, dear?" When it spoke, a mechanical garble of a mans voice came out.
"Please stop, it hurts." Rylia begged, shifting around on the table.
The tendrils continued to push against her, suddenly breaking through. It was as if her barrier was made out of glass, and the force was a hammer.
Her memories were being shuffled through, flipped like pages in a magazine. She watched as her childhood flashed between her eyes, as if he was searching for something.
"You really don't know anything, do you?" He grunted, turning away and the feeling in her brain disappeared.
"Tell me what you want from me, I just want to go home." Rylia pleaded.
The figure flipped around again, suddenly getting quite to close to her. She could hear his breathing under the mask, and felt the heat radiating off of him.
"Do you know who your parents are, Rylia Myaar?" He asked.
She stiffened at her last name, a foreign thing. She was never addressed by her last name, just her first. "N-no. They abandoned me when I was a baby. Baba cared for me ever since."
"Your parents, Rylia-" He stopped suddenly, as if trying to think about the right words to say. "They were members of the rebellion. You are believed to be the granddaughter of a very historic Jedi."
Her breath caught. "What are you talking about? How do you know this? Who are you?"
"So many questions, yet you are the one strapped to the table." He chuckled darkly. "Your mother was the bastard child of Obi Wan Kenobi, from what we've heard."
"So why do you need me?"
He ignored her question. "I am Kylo Ren, leader of the knights of Ren and apprentice to Supreme Leader Snoke. We tracked you down because you have Jedi blood running through your veins. Not a lot, but enough to have the chance of being a Jedi yourself."
Tears flooded her eyes. "So you kidnapped me to execute me. So I don't join the rebellion."
"You're smart. Not smart as I, however." He said it calmly, but it felt like a slap of the face. "I'm not going to kill you, Rylia. Not yet. I do, however, want to see just how strong your connection to the force is."
"No" She gasped. "I would rather die than be the First Order's slave."
"You don't have that choice, child. You are in our control, and you will do as I say."
Her tears turned into sobs, her body shaking as they racked her body. She was so confused, so lost. How could she be the granddaughter of a Jedi? They were forbidden to fall in love, to bear children and have a family. There was no way Obi Wan Kenobi could be her grandfather. From what she read, he was loyal to the bitter end, when Darth Vader killed him in battle.
Kylo Ren seemed uncomfortable by her outburst of emotion, and quickly exited the room.
The passing days were uneventful. She was kept in her cell, strapped to the table unless she was fed or taken to the 'fresher. They would shackle her hands and feet, only giving her flimsy utensils to eat the bland food, and a guard watching her relieve herself. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment every time, trying to cover up as much skin as possible during it.
A lot of this time was spent reflecting. She cried a lot, mourning the loss of Baba and the discovery of her fate. Yet, at the same time, excitement pricked her skin. There was a possibility she was a Jedi, something she dreamed about becoming since she was little and stole a book from the library about the history of Darth Vader. Days blurred together, and she slept very little. Her dreams were filled with nightmares, anyways.
What seemed to be a weeks' time later, Kylo Ren returned. She instantly stiffened up once again, fear clouding her brain. She didn't want him to search her mind, to see the emotions and memories. Those were hers. He had no right to have them.
Rylia was ready when she felt the tendrils of black smoke crawl up her neck. She focused on the barrier around her brain, feeling each section of it like an elastic force field. It was almost like a muscle she could flex and control, but it needed strengthening. It took Kylo around two minutes to breach her control.
"I want you to come with me." He said after a time, after her memories were once again flipped through. This time, Kylo seemed more interested in her later life, rather than her early one.
"It's pretty hard to follow you when I'm strapped to this table." Rylia responded bitterly.
Kylo didn't respond, only walking towards her table and releasing her restraints. Her limbs were chafed and raw, blood dried to the parts of skin that were extremely damaged. This time, only thick fabric restraints were put on her hands. She was barefoot, and felt slightly uncomfortable leaving her cell without them.
She followed the man down winding corridors, through numerous security doors and courtyards. They stopped at a door at the back of a otherwise barren hallway, the lights significantly dark. The stormtroopers were dismissed with a flick of Ren's hand, and he inputted a code to the room. He grabbed the crook of her elbow, firmly but not painfully.
He pulled her through the door, and she waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness inside. It was a huge room, stretching what seemed to be forever. It was humid inside, as in the center of the slate tiled floor was a circular pool of water.
"What are you going to do to me?" She tried to make her voice sound level, but it shook with fear.
He turned back to her, ignoring the question. She was surprised when his gloves went to her wrists, freeing her from the restraints. Her thoughts raced to how she was going to escape, not remembering that Ren could read her thoughts when she wasn't concentrating on her barrier.
"The door locks unless I input the code." He explained.
"What is this place?" Her voice echoed slightly.
"This is where I go to meditate. It's called sensory deprivation. Undress." He commanded.
"Excuse me?" Rylia's heart sped up.
"I'm not trying to fuck you. You can't be in the water and focus with clothing on.
Her lower lip trembled, tears brimming her eyes. "No one has ever seen me… undressed."
Kylo was walking towards the pool, and stopped when she said this.
Turning around, she watched as his gloved hands went to his mask, air whisking out of it as he pulled it off. She expected his face to be a mangled mess, as there was no other reason for a man to hide his face. Instead, a normal face looked back at her. Other than a freshly healed scar starting at his jaw and trailing up to his cheekbone, he looked okay. Slightly attractive, even. Wild curls of brown black hair framed his strong face, brown eyes looking back at her.
"At first, I was planning on training you with abuse. Hatred, pain, deprivation. After looking through your brain, that doesn't seem beneficial." He explained.
"So why did you take your mask off, then?" Rylia questioned.
"You really want to know everything, don't you?" He challenged back. "Just trust me."
"I have every reason not to trust a man who kidnapped me and killed my caretaker." She spat.
His face stayed emotionless. "Undress or I will make it much more unpleasant."
Rylia stuck her chin up, her body trembling. She started out with the black tank top she was changed into, and then her black khaki pants. She shook even more undoing her chest binding, and then her underwear. Standing naked in front of her captor, she felt utterly defeated. Disgust welled in her chest as his eyes fell to her body, his mouth twitching.
"Get in." He nodded to the pool.
She slowly walked towards him, like a deer approaching a savage predator. He held his gloved hand out to her, which she only glared at. Stepping over the lip into the pool, the water felt slightly cool to the touch. Not uncomfortably cold, but refreshing.
"Now lay on your back." He prodded.
The pool was up to her shins, and she hadn't learned how to swim. Baba told her that there were deadly, man eating schools of fish in water. She got onto her knees, before rolling onto her back. There was something strange about the water, as she effortlessly floated on the water like a lily pad.
"Close your eyes." Kylo's voice was softer now, both in tone and volume.
"I'm scared." Rylia responded.
"I'm not going to rape you. I am teaching you how to feel The Force." His voice was laced with aggravation.
Rylia snapped her eyes shut, her breath coming in short pants. She was afraid if she breathed out too much, her body would sink.
"Clear your mind. Do not think of anything but the feeling of floating. Concentrate on how your body feels right where it meets the body."
She did just that, feeling her skin slightly prick at the cool water. She focused on how it slowly lapped at her skin, the sound, the smell. Suddenly, she felt a different sensation she couldn't place at first. It was almost as if the water was vibrating at the atomic level. Rylia gasped, her eyes flying open as she sat up in the pool.
"What the fuck was that?" She gasped, curling her knees up to her chest to cover her nakedness.
She saw Ren's mouth tug up at the side, almost a smirk. "You felt it."
"Felt what?" Rylia was more confused than angry, but her words came out as a snap.
"The Force. Lay back down, focus more. I want to see how much you can feel."
She was intrigued. Laying back down, her breath settled and her heart calmed down. The humming continued as she focused, and it was like she could see the room with her eyes shut. Ren was sitting on the lip of the pool, his body shaped in a louder hum. She focused harder on him, feeling the disturbance as he breathed. Suddenly, a vision popped into her head.
Kylo Ren kneeled in a dark room, a disfigured creature sitting at a throne. The creature seemed to be a hundred feet tall, in simple robes. It seemed to be a projection, as it slightly blinked blue every few seconds.
"Why have you not killed the girl, boy?" It spoke, a raspy and fear inducing voice.
"She's a Jedi, I can feel her presence. I want to train her, she could be a valuable asset against the Rebellion." Kylo responded.
"She was born to a Jedi that followed the light. She will only confuse you more. Be careful, my apprentice."
She suddenly snapped out of her vision, as if a black wall was thrown in front of her.
"Get out of my head." Kylo's voice was filled with venom as he shook her in the pool, salty water filling her mouth.
She coughed and spat. "I didn't mean to, I just did what you told me to do."
He pursed his lips, as if he was studying her. She didn't feel him intrude her mind. "Get dressed. There's someone you need to meet."
Rylia nodded. It felt odd putting her clothes on while still wet, but she complied. He followed her, putting his mask back into place. He then put the restraints back on her arms, causing pinpricks of pain to shoot up them. The combination of salt water and friction was quite uncomfortable, and she bit her lip to stifle a yelp.
"I'll have a droid look at your wounds after this meeting." He seemed to answer her thought.
Ren led her back to her cell, a walk that was completely silent. Troopers that were patrolling the halls straightened up when their commander walked by, and their helmets followed Rylia as she trailed behind them. She wondered if rumors were spreading amongst the troops, the Naboo girl Ren had taken as… his slave? His whore? She shuddered at the thought. She saw Ren's shoulders go rigid as she thought this.
Why does he get to intrude my thoughts, and treats me like garbage when I saw his? She thought.
"Because I'm not the one in handcuffs." Ren remarked, Rylia's cheeks going red.
Once they got back to her cell, she found a pile of black clothes neatly folded on her table.
"If this goes the way I hope, you'll be moving rooms. Get changed, and do something with your hair." Kylo quipped. She appreciated the fact he wasn't keeping her in the dark about certain things.
He once again took off her restraints, and Rylia took the pile of clothes to the refresher. It seemed like a stupid task, as he had already seen her body. But she felt dirty, like a whore. Being commanded to undress in front of the captor that killed Baba. Tears pricked her eyes as she thought about the old woman. Swallowing deeply, she pulled herself together.
She dried the droplets of salt water off her body with a grey towel that hung by the shower, wrapping it around her head to try and dry her hair a little bit. The clothes that were picked out seemed more intricate than a prisoner deserved. A cotton black tunic that buttoned in the front, black khakis with intricate silver stitching, and shoes. There were also two long strips of black fabric that she tied hastily around her arms so that her wounds wouldn't chafe.
Looking in the mirror, a haunting woman looked back. Her face looked sunken in, etched with depression and fear. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes, and her expression was that of a sullen child. Her hair had stopped dripping, but was still quite damp. She quickly braided it down her scalp until it rested at the small of her back.
It was the best she could do for now. Walking back to meet her captor, she felt a powerful aura around him. It was like he was emanating nervousness, his body ridged and his shoulders slightly slumped. Rylia tried to push the emotion away, but it encapsulated her.
"Is there a reason you're nervous?" Rylia couldn't help but ask.
"Do you ever stop asking questions you don't need to know the answer to?" He snapped back.
He cuffed her once more, whisking out of the door at a pace faster than normal. She struggled to keep up with him, her breath coming out in shaky puffs.
"Speak only when you are spoken to. Keep your eyes to the floor, and kneel. Do you understand?" Kylo barked as they walked.
"Yes." Was all she could respond with.
"I do not need you making me look like a fool for keeping you alive. If you do not follow my instructions there will be punishment." His voice struck fear into her heart.
Rylia only nodded. Kylo led her down a small hallway, coming to a door with a keypad on it. His hand once again grabbed her by the elbow, only this time it was rough and unforgiving. He yanked her into the room, a cold and dank corridor illuminated only by small lights on the floor. She watched as a projection blinked on in front of her, the same hideous creature she saw in Kylo's mind in front of her.
She bowed her head, watching her feet trudge along to Kylo's fast pace. He pushed her to the ground, causing her to yelp in pain as her knees skidded on the rocky floor.
"So this is the Jedi girl you've said so much about." The creature rasped, his long fingernails tapping against his throne.
"Yes, Supreme leader Snoke. I've only just begun training her and she's already been able to get inside my head." Kylo responded, his tone the most respectful Rylia has ever heard.
"What is your name, girl?" Snoke quipped.
"Rylia, sir." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.
She felt her mind being invaded, this time a pain so severe her knees gave out as she howled in pain. This was no working of Kylo, as his power was nowhere near as strong. Her brain felt like it was going to explode out of her skull, her neck nearly about to snap. Her body seemed to levitate slightly off the ground as Snoke raked her mind, bringing up memories long forgotten.
A baby, wrapped in dirty white cloth.
A woman, torn clothing and blood caked face.
Baba.
Mother.
Snoke released his hold on her, her body raking with tremors. "What you say is true. She is able to connect with the force. She is much stronger than she can unlock right now. Use her to your advantage, Kylo Ren. Do not disappoint me like you have in the past."
With that, the hologram disappeared.
"Get up." He commanded, his boots touching the arch of her spine.
Her body felt like jelly. She tried to pull herself to her knees, but collapsed once more. Kylo seemed annoyed by this, and suddenly she was scooped up into his arms like a wounded pet. She struggled at first, trying to push herself away from him and back onto her feet. He only held onto her tighter, and suddenly she lost her consciousness.