Ring in the New Year with Reylo gift for SWAG-77! Hope you enjoy!
"Can't I just crash-land in peace?"
The stolen lightsaber's blue hue contrasted with the rocky terrain as it hummed to life in Rey's hand. She glared at Kylo Ren, keeping close to the smoking remains of her ship. A part of Kylo he would rather keep quiet was glad that the ship was not the Millennium Falcon. "I was going to ask you the same question."
Confusion rippled through the Force, and the blue tip of the saber moved in small circles. "Don't try to confuse me, monster."
"Still with that insult?" Kylo's gloved hand fingered the heavy hilt of his own lightsaber as he reached out with the Force to predict if and when the girl would attack. "You lost me my mask. Hasn't your time with Skywalker taught you more?"
"My time with him has taught me enough to kick your pathetic ass more effectively, in case you're wondering," Rey said as she took several quick, agitated steps toward him as if to prove she was unafraid. Kylo's eyes watched a slight limp that she struggled to hide. "Would you prefer scarface, then? I think it suits you."
Kylo allowed the flare of anger in his chest fuel the Force within him, and he unclipped his lightsaber from his belt, thanking the Force that it appeared to be undamaged from his own crash. He studied her angry face, unsure why he hadn't attacked yet despite the insult. "My power has grown as well."
"Not enough to heal that shoulder," Rey said as she gestured to his right shoulder with her saber. Kylo could not stop the surprise that crossed his face. "You're moving it stiffly. The Jakku scavengers would eat you alive if they saw such weakness."
"Weakness?" Kylo took a step forward, allowing his superior height to tower over her. His thumb ran over the ignition button on the saber hilt. "You're favoring your left side. How will you run from a monster?"
Rey seemed primed to run, not fight, and he watched her eyes dart over his shoulder. She didn't answer him, so he continued, "If you're wondering, I was not pursuing you. We both seem to have crashed on this kriffing backwater moon. My ship is no more ready to leave than yours, since you seem to be considering stealing it."
"And you expect me to believe that." Rey's voice was flat, and she shifted on her feet. Kylo noted that she immediately moved her weight off her right foot. "Don't you usually travel with an entourage?"
"My two troopers perished in the crash." Kylo immediately berated himself for the honesty. She would've been more likely to surrender had she believed he had an entire squadron ready to come to his aid.
Rey gave him a strange look as if wondering the same thing. "You haven't even called for help yet."
It wasn't a question, but Kylo gave a small nod. The comm system had crunched in the crash along with the pilot and stormtroopers. The old astromech C2-B5 was busy repairing what it could. "Bio-scan said there was a small population of life-forms on this moon." The Force prickled around him, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on-end, but he did not take his eyes off her face. "You haven't called either."
Something in the Force told him his intuition was correct. He took a step to close the gap between them, unsure of his own intentions. The Force rippled again, and he turned his head to check around them, keeping his mind on the Force in case she got any ideas.
"What're you playing – " Rey broke off as she caught sight of a group approaching them from over a stony hill. The blue lightsaber hummed as she brought it up, and Kylo felt its influence in the Force just next to his left arm. "Friends of yours?"
Kylo did not recognize the species of the group as they drew nearer. They moved quickly on long, skinny legs, and primitive-looking helmets covered their long heads. They held a mixture of electrified staffs and Imperial-era blasters, which were aimed at him and Rey. "No. They seem more your type, scavenger."
The first individual spoke in a high, feminine voice. Kylo did not know the language, but the presumably-female individual thrust her blaster threateningly between the lightsaber hilt in his hand and the ground.
Kylo refused to disarm himself on the apparent demands of an aggressive species. Instead, he ignited the saber in his hand. Hisses rose among the newcomers, and several fired their blasters in quick succession. Kylo brought his saber up to deflect the bolts and watched them take out a few members of the group.
Rey scoffed from behind him, her own saber humming. The deflected bolts aimed at her went in wild directions with some hitting their opponents and others hitting the surrounding landscape, including her damaged ship. "Really? They seem to have your temperament."
"You were the one who activated your lightsaber first," Kylo retorted. He brought his free hand forward to push back the attackers. Several fell together in a heap, and the remaining ones began spreading out to encircle them.
"You were the one who rifled through my mind," Rey hissed softly. She followed the spindle-legged people in a circle until she stood back-to-back with Kylo. "I don't like this."
"More of them," Kylo murmured as more figures crossed over the hill. He lifted his saber and felt his shoulder scream in protest as another blaster bolt deflected off his blade. He took the hilt with his left hand. "And I gave you an opportunity out of that, but you were too stubborn to take it."
"Maybe you should break that habit of taking people and locking them in your little torture room." Rey snapped as Kylo turned to block more fire to his right, but Rey's blade beat him to it.
He forced back his surprise to return the protection on their other side. Their attackers were getting close enough that he swung his saber through a buzzing staff and shoved the individual into three more with the Force. "Interrogation room, not torture room."
"Semantics," Rey yelled over the increasing sounds of fire and the humming and cracking of their lightsabers. "I suppose you call what you did to Poe a light chat?"
"We're fighting a war. You would do the same in my position." At her scoff, Kylo rolled his eyes and disposed of an attacker at the same time as she did. "Don't deny it."
"I'm nothing like you."
The blue lightsaber stopped a bolt from hitting Kylo's side and immediately spun to dispatch two more attackers. Kylo let a grin pull at his lips as his own saber spun to cut through a staff and a blaster on Rey's weak side. "Then why are you fighting like me?"
He didn't need the Force to sense Rey's annoyance, but Kylo could feel something else between them as they defended each other's injured right sides and slowly took down the tall, spindle-legged attackers.
The Force crackled between them as they fought as one unit, sensing each other's attacks and weaknesses. Alone, Kylo could have been overrun by the sheer numbers of the strange beings, not that he would ever admit that his barely-healed shoulder was slowing him down.
Kylo's crackling blade spun up to deflect another blaster bolt, and he allowed the Force to redirect it to its origin. He moved to face another enemy but stopped short as he realized there was no more to be found. He turned slowly to come face-to-face with Rey. Their heavy breathing matched together as they stared at each other.
"You never answered my question," Kylo murmured.
Rey's eyes flicked to his scar before she met his eyes. "I don't know – "
Kylo cut her off with his lips on hers.