Rey took a bite of the chocolate muffin and glared at the image of Kylo. He had just signed off, but the comm projected his frozen face in flickering blue.
Fury threatened to well up again, and she took another bite. Of course Kylo got to go off on an adventure to investigate a disturbance while she sat at home because of their unborn child. He got to do everything lately, and what did she have to show for it? A chocolate craving and mood swings. Even her connection to the Force seemed to be off with her pregnancy, or she would have noticed that Kylo was getting to safety in that building during the crash, and she would not have been hurt and forced on bed rest.
She knew Kylo was doing everything he could to help her, but it still infuriated her that he could go on potentially dangerous missions without her.
"Master Ren feels guilty, you know."
Teela's voice snapped Rey out of her thoughts, and she blinked at the Mirialan. "Kylo feels what?"
Teela nodded, poking at her breakfast half-heartedly. Her green skin looked paler than usual, and she had a bacta towel around her shoulders. "Guilty. About you being stuck at home."
Rey let out a slow breath, running her stomach unconsciously. "I know. And I know we can't just drop everything, especially with Luke getting older."
Teela gave a small smile. "I understand your frustration. Jess nearly tore her hair out when she was forced to rest, and I'm close to doing the same. I can't imagine how you feel."
Rey finally pressed a button on the comm, and Kylo's frozen face disappeared. "I'm close to tearing Kylo's hair out, not to mention my own."
"Imagine what that Zizz writer would make of that," Teela laughed. She pushed her plate away from her and gave another tired smile. "I wonder if little Leia will inherit his hair or yours."
Rey felt an involuntary smile pull at her lips, and she felt a flutter in her stomach. "Kylo insists he wants her to look like me, but I don't really know what I want her to look like."
"She'll be beautiful, and once she's born," Teela's pale face lit up in a mischievous grin, "Master Ren can pay you back by staying up all night with her while you go off on missions."
Rey laughed, the twist in her stomach dispelling. "I think that's fair."
Teela stood, pulling the bacta towel tighter around her shoulders. "Want to watch a holofim?"
Rey smiled up at at the young Jedi. "Sure. Go ahead and pick something out; I'll make some bang-corn."
Teela nodded and padded out of the kitchen. Rey watched her turn into the sitting room but could not convince herself to stand up just yet.
She looked down at her stomach, chewing on her lower lip. Then, feeling a little awkward, she spoke to the growing being with in her. "Do you know what a little troublemaker you already are?"
Almost in answer, her stomach fluttered. She pressed a hand to her belly, feeling another kick. "Stars, you're going to be so loved. You already are. We can't wait to meet you."
Slowly, as if she were just learning how to use the Force with Luke, Rey reached out. Beyond the life of the city and past the bright beacon of Teela nearby, she felt it. Her. Her child. She sensed a developing personality: wit and tenacity and stubbornness. And a fire that could only come from a child of Rey and Kylo Ren.
Her cheeks ached from the smile she had not realized she wore. "Hello, Leia."
Dirty swamp water splashed under Kylo's boot as he got off the ground speeder. The trees had grown thick, only allowing a fraction of the fading sunlight through the foliage.
He pulled his lightsaber from his belt and ignited the blade. The light of the saber cut through the darkness ahead before Kylo's blade sputtered, straining to maintain a proper loop with the broken crystal. Behind him, the green and yellow sabers of Kaydel and Jessika hummed to life.
A single black bird erupted from a nest high above, making all three Jedi jump. The Force seemed to twist around Kylo as if it was as unsure as he was about proceeding. He held up his sputtering lightsaber to peer between two thick tree trunks before climbing over a jumble of roots emerging through the water. His resulting splash rippled a green algae bloom, breaking it into large clumps.
"I don't like this." Although they could not sense anyone else nearby, Kaydel spoke in a whisper. "The Force feels… off here."
Kylo reached out with the Force and paused. The swamp hummed with life from the surrounding vegetation, but he could not sense any other creatures. "Where are the animals?"
Jessika ran her hand over a tree trunk and made a face at the gunk that came away on her fingers. "Pollution probably scared them off or killed them. The trees look sick, too."
Kylo took a step forward, his foot slipping on the uneven terrain. The disturbance rippled through the Force as he righted himself, and he grabbed onto a branch to avoid falling again.
His lightsaber hissed against the water, the hilt growing hot in his hand. Kylo deactivated the blade and clipped it back to his belt, the Force prickling around him. An insect landed on his neck, and he slapped it away.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Jessika murmured, holding her saber overhead to help Kylo see as she took the lead.
The branches overhead shuddered in a gust of wind. Kylo swallowed dryly, wishing he had brought a water canteen. His hair stuck to the sweat on his face, and he brushed it away. "I know."
Jessika dropped down from a root and splashed into the water, grimacing as the waterline covered her boots. "This doesn't feel like Vanis did when we sensed him manipulating the Force in the nightclub."
"No. It doesn't feel like a Force sensitive." The disturbance raced through Kylo again, and he sucked in a deep breath. "We're getting close."
Jessika's lightsaber hummed as she lowered it to duck under a low branch. The water lapped at Kylo's knees as he followed her. Behind him, Kaydel's saber brushed against the branch, and her blade hissed. The smell of burnt wood rose in the air.
They had stepped into a clearing that more resembled a lake. Across the water, trees lay scattered on the ground as if something had barreled into them without a thought. The swamp water, devoid of the algae that that covered the surface outside of the clearing, lapped against the dead wood.
They stopped in the middle of the clearing, and Kylo reached out again, his eyes closing as he concentrated on the Force. Past the vegetation. The bird that had scared them soared over the treetops. The water rippled around his legs.
There.
Kylo looked up, his heart hammering in his chest. What little light that had filtered through the trees had gone out.
The Force screamed.
An enormous arm swiped past him. Kaydel dived out of the way, but a claw cut her leg. Kylo grabbed his lightsaber, igniting his blade despite the sputtering crackle.
Kylo raised the shuddering saber defensively, preparing to strike as the huge beast pulled its arm back again. Jessika waded as quickly as possible to Kaydel, who had landed against a large tree.
A blow to the back of Kylo's head and shoulders threw him halfway across the clearing. He smacked into a tree, the air rushing out of his lungs.
His vision spun for several moments, giving him a blurry image of Jessika's yellow saber swinging. Something roared in pain. He pulled himself up, the effort made harder by the mud trying to keep him down. Kylo held out a hand, and his lightsaber hilt sprang from the water and into his hand again. He blinked and finally made out the shapes of two large creatures at least three times his height, their backs hunched into hideous faces with huge jaws. They converged on Jessika and Kaydel, who stood side-by-side with their sabers out.
Kylo looked around for something small but could only see the water and the mud that his boots were slowly sinking into. He gritted his teeth and threw his lightsaber hilt, using the Force to guide its projectile into the eye of the beast nearest the other Jedi.
Its huge form lurched, and beady eyes locked onto him with a snarl of rage. It took a step toward him, and its companion paused, seeming to be confused between the two prey in front of it and the aggressor who had harmed the other.
Kylo's saber flew back into his hand, and he flicked the mud off it. "Rancors! Get back to the Falcon!"
"We're not afraid! We can beat these things!" Jessika held out her saber for emphasis, but the second rancor had seemed to decide Kylo was the bigger threat. They both stomped through the water, causing waves to crash into Kylo's knees.
"I know you're not." Kylo thumbed his lightsaber on again, adjusting his grip on the weapon. "The Falcon has a ventral turret."
Both Kaydel and Jessika began scrambling toward the edge of the clearing. Kaydel shouted across the clearing, "Don't face them alone! Come with us!"
"They'll only follow us; they're hungry." Kylo began moving away from the other Jedi, drawing the beasts toward him. "And we can't let them live."
He suspected smugglers had hid the beasts on Rakata Prime, for they were not native to swamplands. Jessika and Kaydel disappeared around a tree, and the sounds of their lightsabers breaking through obstacles in their path faded away. Even at a run, they would take at least ten minutes to get to the Falcon and fire its engines.
Kriff.
Rey would berate him for his recklessness, but he had no doubt she would do the same if she had been in his position. It was better he stayed to keep the beasts away from the young Jedi.
Climbing a tree would only waste energy, and he doubted it would get him out of range. Running would slow him more than the beasts. Kylo stared up at the closest rancor, who had made its way through the water faster than he had anticipated. It swung an arm, and he ducked, hearing the claws slice through the air above him. He raised the saber, intent on cutting the offending appendage off. His saber crackled through the air before it sputtered. The blade lost several inches, missing the rancor's swinging arm.
Kylo swore and turned to dodge the rancor's other arm, slicing his sputtering blade through the thick skin of the beast's leg. He smelled charred flesh, and the rancor roared. The attack had not been deep enough to remove the limb, but at least his saber still worked. Kylo jumped on its outstretched arm and ran past its elbow, pulling on the Force to keep his balance despite the mud on his boots. He reached the beast's shoulder and raised the saber to cut into the rancor's head when a huge clawed hand snatched him off.
His lightsaber fell, but Kylo paid it no mind as the second rancor bellowed, enveloping him in a breath so rancid he nearly passed out. Its teeth scraped his leg and ripped easily through his trousers. Kylo slammed his boot down against the rancor's lower jaw, forcing it to stay open through the throbbing pain in his leg. The beast snarled, and Kylo pulled on the Force, barely able to move his hand within the rancor's grip. His boot slipped, and a sharp pain raced up his left hip. He twitched his hand, and the clawed one around him opened.
Time seemed to stop for a long moment, and then Kylo became aware of the air whistling in his ears. He reached out for something, anything, to grab onto before he slammed into the water below. His hand closed around something thick. He brought his other hand up to grip the hard surface and looked up into the face of the first rancor as he hung from one of its long fingers.
Rey would kill him if he died.
He lashed out blindly with the Force. The rancor fell back into its companion, dropping Kylo once again. He smashed into a tree, the Force barely softening the blow as he slid into mud.
His hip and leg screamed for him to stop, but he pulled himself into a kneeling position, his hands raised to defend himself with the Force. He would kill himself if he died without watching his daughter grow up.
The first rancor was getting up, and Kylo shoved his hands forward, throwing the beast backwards with the Force. The swamp water crashed over him, nearly washing him into it. He wiped his hair from his face and heard the engines just before a green bolt hit the rancor.
The Falcon swooped in under the tree tops, the ventral turret maneuvering to aim at the second. Two bolts hit the beast before the first rancor, dazed from the shot, threw its long arms out blindly. Its claw crashed into the Falcon's cockpit, and the ship veered, smashing against the rancor's hideous face. The turret shifted, barraging the second rancor with an onslaught of fire.
Kylo's injured leg gave out as he felt the rancors' deaths in the Force. He caught himself against the mud, his gloved hand slipping into the water as his eyes closed.
AN: I mean, it is titled Calamity. Comments are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!