Rey stepped into the belly of the AT-AT she called home and looked around for Poe. She didn't see him anywhere. She walked over to the wall and marked a tiny line with a rock onto the metal, scratching in the memory of the day.

Poe must have been practicing on the flight simulator. She ducked into what would have long ago been the command center of the AT-AT but he wasn't there either. Rey made her way into the makeshift kitchen and plopped the food portions down onto the table.

"Rey!" Poe's voice echoed into the room.

"There you are," she laughed, "I couldn't find you."

Poe dipped his head as he entered, the doorway of the refurbished home was far too low for him but his orange and white BB droid rolled in easily behind him.

"I have to go, I need some food, and some supplies but I have to hurry." Poe began throwing items into his pack as he explained, "There's a rumor going around that a man who lives on the other side of the desert has some information about Luke Skywalker." He finished breathlessly.

"Who?" She asked confused. Occasionally, Poe forgot that Rey was quite a bit younger than him and hadn't participated in the rebellion against the crown as he had in his youth.

"Skywalker was a Jedi, a very powerful man, he could help us turn this place around." Poe whispered, taking one of her hands in his. "Wish me luck."

She squeezed his hand, "Good luck then. Which way are you going?"

"North, past the sand fields." He answered.

"Be careful!" She reminded him.

"Of course, I'll be back by tomorrow night. Don't worry about me!" He called as he took off into the open desert on his speeder bike with BB-8.

Rey sat down at the table and made her dinner. The portions Unkar Plutt handed out for salvaged parts were never generous or tasty but they were enough-most of the time.

Poe rode the speeder through the desert until the hot sun faded onto the horizon and the stars began to shine overhead. The landscape slowly changed around him. The desert began to melt away as the land grew, though it was difficult to imagine, even hotter. After a while, he was even forced to keep to certain paths to avoid what could only be described as lava flows. He must have taken a wrong turn, gone the wrong direction, he'd never even heard of a place like this on Jakku. If he'd been forced to compare the environment with a world he'd seen before, he would have had to say Mustafar, that was the only planet with landscape like that.

Or a castle like the one that suddenly towered before him, again, if he was forced to say what the castle looked like, he would said Darth Vader's castle, but that's neither here nor there.

So, be that as it may, and despite the fact that the castle was quite foreboding, he was very clearly lost. The inhospitable nature of the environment and the lateness of the hour left him very little choice but to approach the castle and beg refuge for the night.

Poe knocked on the large wooden door.

Nothing.

He knocked again, harder, louder.

Silence.

He looked down at BB-8 who just tilted his head unit to the side, inquisitively.

Poe reached for he door knob. Instantly, the door unlatched.

Poe pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" He called into the empty space.

Only silence met his ears. He looked around the large room, he noticed the castle was cold in spite of the hot wind blowing outside. The environmental controls were obviously functioning, that led him to conclude somebody must still be occupying the premises. He took a few steps around the room. Then he saw it, delicious looking spread of food on a long black table.

"Ohh, that looks good." He said crossing into the dining room and settling into a chair. He's been living in ration portions for far too long and it would have taken a better man than he to resist such delicacies.

Poe ate several bites while BB-8 began scanning the room behind him, soft beeping noises emanating from his speakers. Poe reached for a cup sitting near him on the table. The liquid smelled like hot, melted chocolate, the cup was decorated with a fish pattern, swirling around the entire cup with the tail of the creature forming an elaborate handle. He lifted it to his mouth and took a sip.

Delicious.

"Isn't it good?" A voice asked him. A voice coming from the cup.

Poe dropped the cup the rest of the way to the table, the liquid sloshing out and pooling on the table cloth below.

"Who said that?" He asked, rising to his feet. BB-8 screeched a nervous beep behind him. Poe turned to check on BB-8. That's when he saw the tall man in the black, metal mask standing behind him.

"I'm so sorry, this must be your house," he began, but suddenly he realized he couldn't move his arms, or anything really, except, it seemed he was still able to speak.

"Whoa, ahh that's..." he began but the man in the mask just stared at him, with his hand raised toward him.

BB-8 rolled out of the room quickly, the creature in the mask turned to watch him leave but did nothing to stop him.

Poe's eyes darted around quickly, BB-8 was gone and he was being held frozen in place by a man who wasn't even touching him.

"Who talks first? I talk first? You talk first?" He asked, trying really hard to play it cool.

Author's Note:

I couldn't get Darth Vader's castle out of my mind when I was writing this. It's shown only briefly in Rogue One but it's exactly what I think Kylo Ren's cursed castle would look like.

I hope you enjoyed this story so far! Feel free to leave a review.