Rey's eyes froze on Kylo's back, but she did not have long to examine it before the door dented, and a hole shattered open in it from several blasts. Avin and Calfan ran inside, their dark clothing ripped in several spots. The female Knight turned and stood by the ruined door, her small staff hoisted defensively in front of her. Avin continued forward, faltering as he saw Kylo on the ground and Luke nearby. "We've gotta go before more Stormtroopers come for reinforcements."
Rey shook her head and looked up to see Asarla collecting the fallen lightsabers. Her grandmother's hung at her hips once again, and she was placing the two broken pieces of Kylo's lightsaber inside his helmet along with Luke's and Snoke's hilts. A scowl crossed Kylo's face as he noticed her using his mask as a basket. The fact that he did not comment told Rey how serious his wound was.
She looked back to Avin, who had blood dripping down his leg from his thigh. "Ren can't walk, and we can't leave Luke here."
Avin froze as his eyes moved to the gaping wound on Kylo's back. He looked almost more terrified for the head Knight than Rey felt, and she could tell by the way he looked between Kylo and Calfan that he was not prepared to make any major decisions.
Kylo started to make an attempt to sit up but seemed to think better of the movement as he took charge for the other Knight. "Ragnos, you need to carry Skywalker. You can use your blaster with one hand if you need to." Avin immediately moved over to the Jedi to follow the order as Kylo looked to Rey. "You're not strong enough yet to try any healing, and we don't have time. You also shouldn't be doing any fighting, so you're the best candidate to support me."
He looked annoyed at needing help, but Rey could already sense the presence of clones getting closer to the room. She knelt down, and he wrapped his left arm around her shoulders, pushing himself up with his free hand as she stood. Kylo let out a gasp of pain with the motion, and Rey staggered under his dense body. She felt the Dark Side thicken around him after a moment, and his weight seemed to lessen as Kylo pushed against the floor with the Force to help her bear his weight.
Rey pulled him to the door where Calfan stood, and the female Knight led the way out into the small room that was littered with Stormtrooper bodies. The other two Knights of Ren stood back to back, each holding their unique weapons. One carried what she could only describe as an oversized paddle with sharpened edges while the other had two disks in his hands that glowed and hummed almost like a lightsaber.
Avin stood next to Rey, holding Luke over his shoulders. "The coward Hux fled when he saw we were winning."
Kylo's free hand gestured to the side, and a thin section of the wall depressed and slid to the side. "That's the shortest route out of here."
Calfan and Avin disappeared through the door. Rey let Asarla go in before her and Kylo, and the other two Knights brought up the rear. They entered a pitch-black, narrow corridor that sent shivers through Rey's body, even though she had Kylo's furnace-like body heat close to her. They traveled as quickly as she could pull Kylo, but she soon heard synchronized footsteps approaching at a run behind them.
The Knight with the large paddle-like weapon held it up like a shield, and blaster fire seemed to absorb into it. The other threw one of his disks, and it buzzed through the air, cutting through two approaching Stormtroopers before it arched back into his hand. Rey kept moving with Kylo, knowing she could not do much with her injury and with the man across her shoulders. Kylo held out his hand, and the nearest lightsaber, which happened to be one of Asarla's, jumped into his hand. The white blade activated, and he twisted it in his hand to deflect blaster shots that made it past the two defending Knights. Rey grimaced as she was forced to hold up his full weight again as he defended them, but she could not bring her mind to concentrate fully on using the Force to help support him.
Her legs screamed in protest as she pulled him slowly down the hall, and Calfan slipped between the narrow space between her and the wall to stand behind them and deflect blasts with her staff. Asarla turned and ducked under the lightsaber to grab Kylo's other arm, and he sheathed the white blade as they neared a solid black wall where Avin stood with Luke. Kylo pressed the hand that was around Rey to the wall. A door opened under his command of the Dark Side, and they burst out into the snowy landscape of Mortis.
Rey found the sleek black Starfighter nearby, but it was several moments before the cloaked shuttle shimmered into view as the ramp lowered. Avin ran unevenly past them and climbed the ramp, soon returning without Luke. He stood by the ramp with his blaster at the ready as the three Force users neared him.
Kylo stifled a gasp of pain as his dragging boots caught on the edge of the ramp and moved his injured torso. Rey looked at his twisted expression, feeling her worry for him clench at her muscles as she heard the distinctive sounds of blaster fire reach her ears. Asarla suddenly cried out and fell forward. Kylo, who had been leaning partially on the Togruta, began to fall with her. Rey strained to keep them both upright, but his weight dragged her to the metal of the ramp with him. The three lightsabers that the Togruta had collected in Kylo's helmet scattered and rolled to the ground.
Poe's form cast a shadow over them as he approached to help. His eyes found each of their wounds, and Rey sensed his fear and rising panic. "Fuck. Where's everyone else?" His voice held a hint of concern as he helped Rey to her feet.
Poe's brown eyes froze on her left arm, and she immediately avoided his gaze. "Just help us in, please, Poe."
The pilot nodded and helped Asarla to her feet as Rey began collecting the fallen lightsabers. Blasts shot toward her as her boots hit the ground, and she immediately activated the first lightsaber she grabbed. Luke's green blade appeared in front of her, and she raised it to deflect the oncoming attacks as a mass of white Stormtrooper armor flooded from the base. She knelt quickly and tossed the two pieces of Kylo's lightsaber onto the shuttle, feeling her own hilt press reassuringly against her leg while she snatched up Snoke's curved hilt.
Two black figures sprinted toward them just ahead of the troopers, shouting to start the shuttle. She turned and ran up the ramp with Avin. The Knight took Kylo from the pilot's shoulder, and Poe jumped into the pilot's chair, flipping switches as quickly as possible as the engines revved to life. The shuttle began to rise with the ramp still open, and the two running Knights leapt onto it. Rey slammed the button to close the ramp, and the shuttle shuddered as blaster fire hit it. The moment the ramp sealed shut, Poe wrenched back a lever, and they shot forward at light speed before they had even cleared the planet.
Calfan and the Knight with the disk-like weapons leaned against the wall, panting heavily. The female Knight's helmet had a large crack at the right temple, and she tore it off, throwing it to the floor. Kylo let Avin help him sit against one of the walls, and he looked up at Calfan questioningly. Rey suddenly realized they were short one of the Knights of Ren. Calfan shook her head, and her staff dropped to the floor. "He's dead, Ren."
Kylo leaned his head back against the wall, his gloved hand moving to his back as he visibly flinched in pain. "You all shouldn't have come."
"Do you mean to say that their sacrifices weren't worth it, Ren?" Calfan glowered at the injured Knight and grabbed her staff in a swift movement.
Kylo blinked up at her, and Rey noticed his eyelids remained closed a little too long, almost like the night they had been drunk. He likely had not slept since he left Kiros. "I do appreciate that your reckless little mission allowed me to bring down Snoke, but it cost two lives and the use of my legs." His deep voice began to raise. "How do you propose we are going to take on Hux when he will have the full wrath of the First Order behind him?"
Rey stepped between the two Knights before they could begin shouting at each other. "Stop! Both of you. We all need to decide on where we are going to go so that we can rest."
Kylo's dark gaze turned to her. "If we hurry to Kiros, the city hospital can fit you with a hand. They have an… agreement not to report any lightsaber wounds to the First Order."
For the first time, Rey looked down to examine what was left of her arm. Her breath caught as she saw the severed end, and she felt as if the pain increased ten-fold as she stared at it. She had seen and cared for plenty of injures on Jakku – falling and accidently dislodging something heavy was an occupational hazard of a scavenger – but she had never dealt with the loss of a limb nor had she ever seen such an injury on someone else. Rey could not tear her eyes away from the stump, and she felt herself sway where she stood. She vaguely registered Avin catch her as she finally fainted out of pain and exhaustion.
()()()()
Images of Finn in the hover chair floated through Rey's mind. She could see her Stormtrooper friend lying unconscious in the snow, the lightsaber cut running up his back in a jagged diagonal. She suddenly saw Kylo in a chair identical to Finn's, his proud expression reduced to a shadow of its former self. His dark eyes glared up at her as he snarled, "Why weren't you strong enough to help me?"
A sharp pain in Rey's neck forced her eyes to snap open and focus upon Asarla's worried face hovering over her. Bright white lights shone above her, and Rey blinked several times as her eyes adjusted. The Togruta smiled softly and took her upper right arm, pulling her up into a sitting position with surprising strength. "Sorry for the rude awakening, but we need to go."
"Where –" Rey's question cut off as Asarla yanked her off the bed she had been lying on and practically dragged her to the door. It slid open, and Rey's vision lurched as the Togruta pulled her down the hall at a run. Like the room, the hall was brightly lit, and the blurred shapes of droids swarmed past her as Asarla turned several corners.
Rey barely processed where they were before they were suddenly outside, overlooking a strangely familiar marketplace. Her vision settled, and she noticed two combat-class shuttles landing at the edge of the city.
"This way." Asarla yanked her arm again, and Rey stumbled after her, soon tripping as the ground inclined underneath them. She fell to the ground, catching herself with her hands. Shiny metal at the end of her arm caught her attention. It flexed like her hand had used to, and she stared at it in amazement until Asarla tugged on her right arm again. "We need to get onto the shuttle and off planet before the First Order realizes Lord Ren is here."
Kylo. All details of the fight on Mortis flooded back to Rey. Kylo Ren – the menacing warrior who was now the only master of lightsaber combat in the galaxy – could not move his legs. Because she had insisted that he needed saving from Snoke. She let Asarla pull her to her feet and staggered after the Togruta as guilt clawed at her chest. She watched a large black bag that was over Asarla's shoulder bounce against the woman's leg as they half-jogged toward the shuttle that rested near a formation of rocks.
Avin stood outside the shuttle without his helmet. As he saw them approach, he shouted over his shoulder and beckoned them inside as he climbed the ramp. Rey glanced behind her to see Stormtroopers swarming toward Kylo's house that stood on the opposite edge of the city. A small patrol was nearing the hospital, and she and Asarla hurried inside the shuttle.
"All right, everyone. I nicked enough fuel for us to get off this blasted planet and as far as the Outer Rim." Poe flipped several switches, and Rey felt the shuttle take off.
Calfan's cloak had been placed over Luke. The Knight herself sat in the co-pilot's seat, while Avin and the other Knight sat on either side of Kylo, who lay on the floor. He rested on his stomach, his long arms wrapped around a makeshift pillow that seemed to be a collection of Avin's cloak and some other black clothing that could have come from any of the Knights' outfits. One of the Knights had moved his non-responsive legs respectfully to lie in line with his torso. His shoulders rose and fell evenly as he slept.
Rey knelt beside Kylo and looked over the gaping wound that interrupted his dark clothing, wincing as the sharp tang of burnt flesh reached her nose. The laceration was not deep, but she knew from his lack of sensation that his spine was damaged. She had passed out from Force healing a bruise, and she knew she would need help if she wanted to fully mend him.
Finn had mentioned that his similar wound had healed incorrectly on its own, and she could not let that happen to Kylo, who, like Finn, had received the injury in her defense. She raised her hand over his injury and imagined his damaged nerves reconnecting as she concentrated upon the Force. Her energy quickly began to ebb away as she willed his injury to begin healing.
Kylo inhaled sharply and lifted his head, looking over his shoulder at Rey. She barely glanced at him as she continued to focus the Force on the Knight's spine. She continued her healing until she heard him gasp. Her concentration dropped, and she looked over at Kylo worriedly as she felt fatigue weigh down on her limbs. "Did that hurt?"
His head rested back down on the temporary pillow. "Not much… but I can feel my boots."
Rey grinned widely. "Can you move?" Kylo paused for a moment before giving a small shake of his head. She pressed a hand as reassuringly as she could on his shoulder, sensing his impatience and desperation to move. The hope she had held onto for so long on Jakku redirected into hope that she could eventually heal him enough so that he would soon be able to walk again. She tried to convey her hope onto Kylo, knowing how frustrated he was already getting.
She felt the shuttle leave hyperspace, and she looked up through the windows to see them entering an atmosphere. Rey moved to stand behind Poe's chair as she recognized the endless sands that rose into view. Jakku.
AN: I originally planned on ending this fic in about two or so chapters, since the last few were fairly climatic, BUT I am thinking I will continue with the story and the sequel-ish plot I have planned here, as a couple of you have commented on what you hope to see for the coming chapters. I do hope you are all still enjoying the story and this wild ride. You all have no idea how much just one little sentence influences my writing process or how much I squeal when one of you picks up on the hints I throw out. I just absolutely love reading your thoughts. It is the highlight of my day when I see a new review has been posted. You all are incredible. Thanks for reading!