A/N: Woo welcome to chapter 8! We're got over 2,500 views which is incredible to me! By far the most popular things I've ever written. I hope you all enjoy this chapter I've got a couple of introductions here and the next chapter we'll be moving further into the Star Killer base story line dun, dun, dun!

Chapter 8

Kylo woke Rey up earlier than normal the next morning. He gave her clothes that he said would keep her warm on the frosty planet they were heading too. The heaviness of the evening before seemed to be lost on Rey as she changed as quickly as she could eager to be able to go outside once again.

She was wearing black tights with long black robes, Ben had given her a long sleeve shirt to wear underneath her robes, it didn't match the rest of her black apparel. For the first time since being placed on this ship she was given a white piece of clothing.

"Remember, don't talk to anyone and stay by my side" Kylo was worried about them being compacted into a shuttle with other officers and troopers. Rumors had flown about the ship that he had an apprentice and there were mixed reviews. As much as he wanted to run his sabre through anyone with a negative thought he couldn't do it. Rey nodded as Kylo put on his helmet noticing her grimace.

"Why do you have to wear that?" He knew she didn't like it, that she couldn't understand the point of the symbol.

"So people are scared and they can't see the faces I make at them" She giggled at that last part and became serious as they left his chambers. Rey couldn't believe how many people were hanging around the hanger waiting to be dropped down to the new First Order base. There must have been hundreds of people, and she found as Kylo and her passed they turned to stare and she was sure they spent equal time staring at her as they did at him.

She did her best not to make eye contact with anyone but she met the gaze of a group of senior officers that were several feet away and one of them immediately turned to another whispering.

"So Ren this is the apprentice you've picked up?" A smiling officer asked crossing towards them. The officer only gave her a quick look over before reverting his attention back to Ren.

"Yes, not quite what they thought is she?" Rey swore she heard a hint of laughter in his voice, but didn't have time to dwell on it as her attention was adverted to another man in a mask approaching from across the hanger. Her first mistake was the step back she took feeling intimidated, the second was her try at reaching out with the force to read his energy.

The man approaching them was like a blackhole to the energy around. She had reached out with the force but the place where he stood felt empty, empty of life even of air. Kylo took note of her curiosity turning to face the oncoming knight.

"Garvin what are doing here?" Ren didn't sound pleased or dismayed at the appearance of another knight. The man Ren called Garvin looked to his counterpart then down to her, she felt him press against her with his force essence but she held him from entering her mind tilting her head sideways with curiosity at who this knew comer was. She took a hint from his own force manipulation but instead of absorbing energy the way he seemed to she reflected his own energy back to him. He turned to Ren finally speaking.
"That one is a talent" His voice was twisted with an apparatus in a similar way Kylo's was. Kylo gave her the briefest nod before responding.

"She has a lot to work with" Kylo agreed. "I wasn't aware you would be joining us on Star Killer. What caused the change?"

"Snoke requested my presence. He didn't think you were enough anymore and I can see why" Again the knight motioned towards Rey. "Having such a young apprentice will tarnish your image"

"Then it's a good thing I have a reputation behind me as well then" The two knights spoke with a mutual respect but neither showed any sign of liking the other. Garvin bent down suddenly in Rey's face startling her, she took another step back her first instinct was to attack but she held herself at bay letting this man study her. She wished she could see his face look in his eyes.

Feelings of anxiety began to grow in Rey as she stared into the dark mask of the knight in front of her. She tried thinking her way through it but she couldn't calm her nerves, then the sense of despair. The pain of being alone. Rey felt like she was being swallowed by darks. Ren watched as the color in her eyes faded to black, the spark of gold that seemed to shine in them was vanishing.

The knight stood back up and turned to Ren. "The dark side will eat her alive if you're not careful my friend" And he gave a laugh as he felt the darkness he spurred in her growing rapidly shadowing her soul.

Rey heard voices, whispers in the back of her mind. They spoke all the bad things she'd ever felt about herself.

'No one wants you'

'Who could love a thing like you'

'You're a disappointment'

'A failure'

'He'll leave you too'

'like your mother and father'

'and you'll be alone'

And when she thought she was going to lose to the darkness growing against her a spark of light appeared. A tiny glimmer of hope that she followed like a star. The star burned and grew until it burnt away the bad thoughts in her.

As Rey's eyes came back into focus she was confused when she Garvin lying on the ground several feet away from her. She looked up to Kylo Ren confused.

"I think she will hold her own" Ren said turning to his fallen comrade, the amusement definitely in his voice now.

'You did well little one' Kylo encouraged mentally. In part he was proud of her for holding her own, but he also knew that this meant his mission with her would be harder.

'But I didn't do anything' Rey was confused. Very rarely had Ben given her praise and now he was proud of her for something she hadn't even done willingly. Kylo led her to a shuttle securing her safely in a seat before taking one beside her.

'Garvin is strong with the force but his specialty is emotional manipulation. He was trying to encourage the darkness in you to take over. For a second I thought he had done it successfully but you burnt him away. The light you summoned nearly broke his own defense shields that is very impressive' They were packed tightly into a shuttle but Rey did look over at her Master surprised that she had nearly bested one of Snoke's knights.

'I didn't do anything though' Ren smiled under his mask.

'the dark or the light isn't something you do it's just in you. Garvin thought he could put the light in you out. That works in some people, their light will go out and darkness will take over. There are very few force users with a light that can overcome Garvin's pull most other…' He didn't finish his sentence Rey's eye brow raised in question. 'Garvin will push until he gets a result, most end up taking their own lives'

Rey was shocked, the knight would use the dark side of the force to push people until they would commit suicide. It was a new side of the force she hadn't heard of yet one she wished she could have gone her whole life without knowing about. It broke Rey's heart to think of someone drowning in sorrow until they made the decision to end their own suffering.

Kylo Ren regretted almost immediately explaining Garvin's gift, that truth had taken another piece of Rey's innocence from her. The silence was short before Rey asked. 'Do you think I have a gift?'

Ben would nr tell her but to him she was a gift. 'Mediate until we land' Rey listened to his instruction.

She focuses on clearing her mind and centering herself, letting the energy of the force flow through her freely. Eventually they landed and disembarked in the hanger of Star Killer base.

"Before we go outside we have to go to our new quarters" Rey just nodded letting herself freely look around the new base. It was huge she could hardly believe it, it was bigger than the ship they'd been and she had thought that was huge!

"Rey pay attention" His burst of aggression brought her back to standing at attention two paces behind him. Their new room was even bigger than the one on the Supremacy. Ben opened a door for her and let her in "this will be your room" The room he had called her mirrored his room on the ship, there was a bed far larger than she needed a desk and of course everything was in his favorite color, black.

"I have a room?" She looked up at him, he was just now removing his helmet and shaking out his long black locks.

"Yes, it's more appropriate for you have a room of your own. You'll appreciate it as you begin to grow more" She was honored he had thought to get her a room for herself but she also didn't like the idea of sleeping without him. His presence let her feel safe and she questioned if being so far from him would give her the same feeling of comfort. "You don't need to worry my room is just on the other side of this wall."

Ben left Rey in her room and she just stood staring. She had her own place now, she'd never had something like that before. When she lived on Jakku as a baby she lived with old lady Kanda and as soon as she could walk Plutt made her work and forced her to find her own home. She didn't have to work for this it was just here for her to have.

Rey wasn't sure how she felt about receiving something without working for it. She walked up to her bed and let her hand hover over it. She didn't deserve these things, she was going to have to work harder to earn them. She would do whatever it was Ben asked of her if it meant she could just show him the tiniest bit of gratitude.

"Are you ready to go outside?" Ben's voice at her door caught her attention. His face fell when he noticed the look on her face. "What's wrong Rey?"

"Nothing" She lied smiling at him. She didn't want him to know of her insecurity, he deserved a better student than her and she was determined to give it to him.

"So how about we do some training outside?" He was startled that she reacted with a calm nod. Rey decided she needed to be more serious and focused from now on, she'd had fun with Ben in the past but it was time to focus on her training and be the person he needed her to be not the child.

Ben led Rey to a part of the base that was still secluded and took her outside. Rey immediately pulled her robes around herself tighter as a blast of cold air took her breath away. He watched her face as she practically glowed with wonder of the white covered ground around them. She turned to look at him and he gestured for her to keep going so she did.

Ben nudged Rey toward the forest great tree's towered over them their branches covered with green needles and more snow. Rey was captivated.

"What are these?" She asked placing a hand on the tree looking up at it. She could feel the life in it, though it was freezing outside she felt a warmth radiating from the tree. "It's alive" She whispered in wonder.

Ben hadn't realized before but she'd never seen a tree. Of course she hadn't, Jakku was a dessert very little plant life survived on the barren planet. He found watching her discover the nature around her incredible and captivating. She moved from tree to tree feeling the bark and life force in them. He watched he as she crouched down and touched the snow.

"It's so cold" He couldn't help but laugh.

"It's snow, it's like rain but frozen" Another confused look came from her, of course she'd never seen rain either. Just watching her discover this other world made him want to give her the galaxy, take her to every planet show her everything she's never seen before. "Reach out with the force, what do you feel here?"

Rey did as he asked and she could feel the life of the tree's and other plants. Rey had dreamt of tree's before but she didn't know they were so full of life. Ben swore he saw the light inside her grow a hundred times as she discovered the different life that lived on this planet the first order had created.

Ben let her wander and do as she pleased for a time. He didn't want to ruin this experience for her by making her levitate things and focus on the force. What she was learning here on her own would be enough for now.

"Alright Rey we should go back in before you catch a cold" She felt a bit disappointed by him calling her to go back inside but didn't dwell on it. If she was going to keep working hard he was right, getting sick would make everything harder.

As they walked back into the base towards his chambers she chatted. "So frozen water just falls from the sky? And tree's grow like people do?" He'd have to get her some science books about photosynthesis and the water cycle. "I don't understand how can it be so bright here but feel so cold? It's colder here than it is in space!" She exclaimed her questions were only growing in number the more he explained to her how the sun and atmosphere worked.

"We will have to go to the mess hall for dinner, this base isn't set up for delivery like the Supremacy" He explained but Rey didn't mind. Ben thought she should be more afraid of the others on the base but he didn't know all the people she'd come across on Jakku, after all there was only one person on this base that intimidated her.

"I will kill him" Ben said as they entered his chambers. "I want to kill him for what he's done to you" She knew he wasn't talking about the torture but her fear. She'd hadn't even feared Unkar Plutt as much as she fears Admiral Hux. The man was willing to cross boundaries that even space pirates she'd met wouldn't cross.

"No, killing people is bad" She was scolding him now. "You have to much good in you" But she'd never know the horrible things he had done in his, she'd never know if he could help it.

"We will only get something to bring back here. I don't eat with the others, they're not allowed to see my face" Ren explained and she nodded. She still didn't understand why the others weren't allowed to see his face but she would respect what he wanted. "Go get changed and we will walk down. You need some hot soup"

Rey hadn't even realized she was shivering but somehow her clothes had become soaked as she played in the snow. Ben told her that when the snow warms up it turns back into water and she was mystified and kept picking up the snow to watch it happen and sure enough he had been right. Right in front of her eyes the snow vanished leaving behind drops of water.

Rey changed as quickly as she could putting on fresh black robes and tights leaving her wet clothes in the corner. Ben gave her a scrutinizing look before he sat on the new sofa and patted on his knee's for her to come sit. She did as he instructed.

He began to run his fingers through her wet hair pulling apart strands and weaving them with others. Rey was confused as first but it only took him a few moments before he finished.

"There go look at that now" She gave him a curious look but walked to the refresher to look in the mirror. Ben had weaved her hair into a tight braid the laid on her back.

"How did you do that?" She asked running her hand gently across her woven hair.

"I want you to be comfortable Rey, my" he hesitated for a minute but continued. "My mother is from a place where woman have their hair braided. She taught me when I was young so I could help her when my father was away. Believe it or not it was important for women to have their hair braided by the men in their lives it signified their place" Ben thought back to his mother teaching him the different braids she'd been taught on Alderaan. She explained to him the importance of the bonding between a father and daughter the more intricate the braid signified the more importance of the woman's life to the man it meant they spent time together, trusted each other. Leia had told him how it was an intimate sign of respect and care to braid a woman's hair. Ben had never thought the lessons would mean anything but as he looked down at Rey he couldn't help but wonder if she would let him touch her hair more. A way for them to grow their bond.

"was she beautiful?" He heard the wispiness in her voice. He knew she'd seen his mother in a vision, why was she asking him a question like that? He had to think about it, he'd never considered his mother in such a way of vanity before and the more he though the more he realized,

"Yes, she was beautiful" He saw her smile.

Yes, Ben still had more light in him than he would admit to her Rey thought. This was the first time he discussed any part of his family with her aside from the anger she had felt the previous time mentioning his mother. Rey let her thoughts drift to what her own mother was like, she only had a short memory of her mother but she was sure the woman was kind and would have loved her.

"alright lets go get something for dinner" He replaced his helmet and led her out the door. Rey followed dutifully but let her thoughts wander as she dreamed of her mother and father briefly.

The mess hall was filled to the brim with people and was loud. Rey felt overwhelmed immediately on entering the hanger sized hall. She gazed across the room hearing everything from shouts to laughter, different languages and dialects. People were sitting, standing walking all over the space it wasn't until Kylo pushed a tray toward her that she snapped out of her daze and looked at him.

"Whatever you want" He said before leading her through a line of people to a buffet of food. Rey wasn't tall enough to see onto the counter well but she put a few things on her tray she just guessed would be good. She didn't recognize most of the names some of them she couldn't even pronounce.

She ended up with a variety of meats and vegetables before she found her way to a tall bar filled with sweets and fruits. Her eyes widened at the variety, of course she pulled a couple jogan fruit off the table and a few other colorful fleshy fruits.

There were so many things she'd never seen before really she wanted to try them all, but decided that wouldn't be the best idea. Kylo turned to her and placed something on a plate on her tray. She gave it a suspicious eye but didn't ask him about it. They were ready to return to his chambers when a ghostly laugh caught her attention.

Rey's head snapped as she turned and there he was, the red headed devil who had wanted nothing more than to make her his slave. "I see the Supreme leader didn't take my suggestion, what a shame" Rey felt paralyzed for a brief second she'd had a flashback to being tied down to a table with him leaning over her. He laughed again catching the fear in her eye. She turned to find Ren but he was lost in the sea of people that were coming and going. How could this be happening? Rey felt her heart accelerate as her anxiety tried to crush her. She managed a step back away from him.

"Still afraid little scavenger?" He bent down in front of her. "Don't worry I still plan to have my fun with you, just not right now" Hux stood straight up again looking over her head.

"What is your business here Hux?" The mechanical voice questioned.

"Don't tell me you're interested in this dirty scavenger too?" Hux barked. "What is it with you knights and pathetic children"

Rey felt a hand on her shoulder and a pressure pushing her away from Hux and down a less crowded corridor. She couldn't break herself from the paralytic shock of running into General Hux. The man who spoke came around to look her in the eye. She was surprised to find yet another man dressed in a similar fashion as Kylo Ren but in a mask in a different style.

"Don't let him scare you child" The speaking apparatus broke her stupor and she looked up at the knight before her. "You're far more powerful than a nothing like him could hope to be. Come I'll take you back to your chambers" He started down the hallway and she followed without a word. As they turned a corner Ren was there and she knew he was giving an eye to her and the new knight.

"Not you too" It was practically a groan that came from him.

"Not happy to see me? I found your apprentice being stalked by that snake" Rey realized that there seemed to be a common theme amongst the staff of the first order, no one like Hux.

"I'm sorry Rey, I didn't mean to leave you there" This was strange, Ren was showing her sympathy in front of this knight, speaking to her aloud and not telepathically like he had with the other. "Will you join us for dinner?" The invitation to the new knight surprised her even more.

"I suppose, you'd better give her an explanation before she goes into shock" The knight laughed as went back into the cafeteria. Ren led Rey back to his room taking her tray from her and setting it on the table, then removing his mask.

"That is Jabbar. He has been a friend of mine for a long time" Kylo finally explained and Rey just nodded.

"Does he have a gift like the other one?" She asked wanting a warning this time, but Kylo just smiled.

"He does have his own talents but it is for him to decide if and when to tell you what they are" Rey didn't like that Ben wouldn't tell her but at least he seemed friendlier with this knight. She wouldn't trust him yet but she felt having Ben's trust meant a lot.

"Who are these men who dress like you?" She hoped he would at least tell her that much.

"When I first came to Snoke I brought them with me. They were being forced to train in one way of the force like I was. There are more than just the two you've met, I have become their master but they also report to Snoke" No matter how many times she had heard the name Snoke, it always left a shiver running down her back.

"So they are your friends?" She asked but Kylo just shrugged.

"Some of them, like Jabbar are. Others like Garvin I tolerate" He ended the discussion there. "Why don't you eat in your room, I need to discuss something things with Jabbar that aren't appropriate for you to hear." It was mostly true, but he mostly didn't want Jabbar to talk about things that Kylo didn't want Rey to know. His history with Luke Skywalker and the others at the academy. Jabbar wouldn't shut up if he got talking and it was a risk Ren wasn't willing to take.