Jeyna collapses to her knees once they've cleared the web covered section of forest, gasping for her breath. Ren drops into a seated position not far from her, deactivating his saber and breathing almost as heavily.

She wishes she could force herself to forget the sizzling, popping noises of the arachnid's eggs being destroyed by the explosion. Or being chased through the forest by the "big one", as Ren had called it, which had awoken when its entire brood of young were incinerated. She especially could do without seeing a spider larger than a rancor sliced open by a lightsaber ever again.

Yes, her curiosity regarding the planet had about run out. Jeyna was done with Kashyyyk. It had provided enough nightmare fuel for her to be content never returning.

Ren seems to be on the same mental wavelength as her, pulling the commlink from his pack. He gives up after a moment though, tossing it back in.

"We'll need to try from higher up. The canopy must be too thick here," he explains, standing. "We'll try again back at the village."

Jeyna nods, joining him as he begins their retreat to the Wookie elevator. She doesn't bother making conversation as they walk, still nursing a grudge against him. She's also lost in her own thoughts, about Revan and Dxun. She'll need to do quite a bit of research to be able to suggest where to begin a search on the jungle moon.

And then there are still the lingering thoughts: What does the final map lead to? Why is Ren so interested in it? What purpose will it possibly serve the First Order?

And does Jeyna really want to benefit the First Order, even indirectly, with her work?

Of course, she doesn't really have a choice. She knows if she attempts to refuse, he will simply force her. He'd likely not even need to resort to hurting her to accomplish it, just his intimidation seemed to be enough to make her cave. She feels weak at her inability to stand up to him, frustrated with her lack of options.

And then, there's the concern about what will become of her once she's provided everything Ren needs from her. Once she's no longer useful to the First Order, what reason would there be to keep her alive? Would Ren kill her, or let her be killed, once she was done serving a purpose?

She clenches her hands into fists to try to dispel some of her emotion, her fingernails biting into the palms of her hands. She's been foolish lately, caught up in exploring this foreign world. She hasn't grasped the reality of her situation. It's no better than when she was in the interrogation room of their ship, with a shock band strapped to her skull.

If Ren is listening to her thoughts now, he says nothing. At least she can be thankful to him for that.

Nearing the Village

They learn a very quick lesson about weather on Kashyyyk: When it rains, it pours. At first, the rainfall is scattered enough by the canopy to hardly be noticeable. It's almost pleasant, the noise of it hitting so many leaves, the fresh smell it leaves in the air.

But as they ascend on the old, rickety elevator, it starts raining harder, and breaking through the tree cover. By the time they reach the top, they are soaked. It doesn't help that night is also setting, plunging the temperature deeper.

They break into one of the larger cabins along the walkway at random to get some shelter, Jeyna wringing her hair out as best she can by the door. Her limbs feel frozen and numb, and she watches in surprise as Ren hacks apart the oversized wooden table and chairs in the room to throw into the old fireplace. He's never bothered with a fire before, she thinks. Then again, she's never been this desperately cold before either. The shivers have turned into jarring jerks, her teeth rattling inside her jaw.

Jeyna realizes she can see him shivering, as well, as he searches through his pack in the nearly dark room. She sees the flash of the firestarter, but it takes a while to catch on the old wood. The fire starts small, but its something.

She inches closer to it, settling on the rough floor of the shelter. The space is dimly lit, but there's just enough light from the fire that she sees as he strips the top of his combat suit off. He's left in only an undershirt as he throws the top onto the floor in front of the fire, presumably to dry.

Jeyna rips her eyes away from the muscles in his arms, mortified at her body's response. She rubs her hands up and down the wet sleeves of her own top, desperately wishing for it to dry faster. The damp material clings to her, prolonging the cold.

She ignores the sound of him pulling his boots off, the thump they make on the floor. They're followed a moment later by his pants, and she pointedly avoids looking at him in his underclothes. The fire is growing larger, she notices, jerking with cold. Eventually she'll warm up.

"Get over your modesty, before you're hypothermic," Ren orders, sitting down.

Jeyna jerks her head back towards him to give him a withering look. He returns it, his gaze once again challenging, reflecting the firelight. She's indignant, and yes, she's modest, but most of all she's furious. Furious about the stupid rain, and this terrible planet that tries to kill her every other day, and she's mad at being stuck on it, with him!

"You're thinking loudly again," he observes, bored.

Without even thinking, she rips her shirt off, balls it up, and whips it at his head. He catches it easily, his lips jerking in a way that suggests he finds her behavior entertaining.

She crosses her arms over her chest, the thin material of the white undershirt making her feel exposed. But now that her skin on her arms can dry, she can actually feel the heat of the fire warming her substantially. Jeyna sighs, jerking her own boots off. She tries to ignore that she can feel Ren staring at her as she tosses the boots away.

She lays down, lifting her hips to wriggle the soaking wet pants off. The undershorts are tight on her, and she's painfully self-conscious. He's still watching her, making her entire body feel covered in a blush. She resumes her seated position, her pants laid out to dry near his own.

"Are you going to just stare at me?" She snaps, wishing he'd give her an ounce of privacy back.

"Where else am I supposed to look?"

When she glances at him, unsure how to read his tone, he raises his eyebrows slightly as if genuinely asking. "Anywhere else. It's not polite to stare at a woman whose half dressed," she informs him.

"I wouldn't know," he replies, finally looking away and towards the fire. She furrows her brow at his response.

Something about it leeches away her anger. Instead she just feels nervous, and tired. Her teeth are at least able to stop their incessant chattering, and her jaw muscles feel worn from the strain. The warmer she feels, the more she wants to lay down and go to sleep.

"I'll try comms in the morning. With any luck, we'll be out of here soon," he says.

"Good." She doesn't know what else to say. She hears him sigh, and finally lets herself break her own gaze from the flames. His long hair is drying in slight curls, pushed back from his face. The bruising on his face looks much better, and if she had more energy she might inquire if his power had anything to do with that. But mostly she finds herself giving in to her earlier desires to study his features. She lets her eyes rove over him, unable to deny that she finds him magnetically attractive.

His volatile eyes snap to hers, catching her. They narrow, and she feels her stomach drop in the sudden knowledge that he knows what she was just admitting to herself.

Jeyna stands suddenly, grabbing her pack to pull the blanket from it. She retreats from the fire, already missing the heat it throws. The bed is the only intact furniture left, and she crawls onto it and covers herself up, intent on going to sleep before she thinks any other stupid thoughts.

But the blanket is a poor substitute for the heat of the flames, and she finds herself shivering once more. Of course she could just go back to the fire. But she stubbornly stays put, knowing eventually it will heat the whole space. Her hands are still icy. She tucks them into the blanket, closing her eyes and wishing for sleep. It doesn't come, her brain still running over thoughts repetitively, her body still too chilled.

After a while, she feels the bed move as Ren lays down. She acts like she doesn't feel it, tries to not remember the night before and how warm he had been. How comfortable she'd actually found it against him. Her thoughts are quickly turning to something they shouldn't, and she bites her lip in frustration.

"Come here."

His voice is quietly demanding. She wishes she could roll over, turn her back to him. But she finds herself, once again, caving to his will. She scoots hesitantly across the bed, barely making him out in the flickering shadows. When she's close enough, he pulls her against his side. Her heart is beating rapidly, her breathing feels faint.

Why is he affecting her this much? She's never let a man affect her like this before.

She lets her head rest where his shoulder meets his chest, feels the welcome heat of his body. She can hear the thrum of his heart beating, and she focuses on that to drown out her own overactive brain.

"You don't have to worry about what happens when this is done," he says, quietly. She closes her eyes, realizing he'd been listening to her thoughts earlier. When she had pondered if he'd keep her alive once she was no longer useful.

She turns her face into the material of his shirt, wishing she could believe him.

The Next Day

They don't talk much on their hike to the arranged pick up location. Ren seems tightly wound, reluctant to speak. Jeyna doesn't push it. She's perfectly content to not discuss how they woke up that morning, entangled together. She doesn't understand why he'd immediately pulled himself away, his face turning stony and closed off as soon as the last traces of sleep faded from his eyes. But she tells herself she doesn't need to understand.

She can reason that it's better to act like it hadn't happened. And so she lets the silence be, even as they wait for their ride. And when the shuttle drops down to collect them, Ren barely glances at her.

"When we get back, prepare a background report on Dxun, as well as search areas," he orders. "I'd also like a report on the last known locations and mission of Revan."

"Of course," she agrees, trying to make her voice sound neutral.

They don't speak again during the flight, Ren going directly to the cockpit and leaving her to strap into a chair in the main hold. There's only a few troopers accompanying the pick up, and they ignore her. She doesn't mind, closing her eyes and enjoying the much more peaceful return trip.

When they arrive at the hangar bay, she exits the ship on her own, determined to quickly make her way to her small quarters and away from Ren.

She doesn't make it far, however, when she hears the mocking tone of Hux.

"Ah, little pet. You've survived!"

She freezes and turns, seeing him striding up to the shuttle as its engines are still winding down. He looks smug as he adds, "I'd heard there was some trouble on Kashyyyk."

"Yes. It would appear some traitorous weasel in your midst thought leaking intel would be enough to get Commander Ren killed," Jeyna goads him, ignoring the voice of reason telling her it's a bad idea. The man's already tried to have her killed, there isn't much she can do to make their relationship more hostile at this point. "Seems they underestimated his powers, however," she adds.

Hux's pleasant façade falls immediately, as he scowls at her. "Be careful what you say to me, girl."

"I apologize, I didn't mean to imply anything offensive towards you, Sir," she replies, her voice so devoid of sincerity that its downright mocking. She stares at him, enjoying the way he struggles to repress his anger.

Jeyna notices when the troopers behind him snap their helmets to look at the top of the loading ramp, and she turns to see Ren is finally emerging. He stomps down to their level, his gaze never leaving Hux.

"I believe we have a meeting with the Supreme Leader," he says in way of greeting. Hux nods. Jeyna can't help but notice both men are clenching their hands into fists, their aggression towards one another barely held in check. She drops her gaze from their staring contest, wishing she'd been able to just flee to her room.

Hux apparently flinches first, sighing. "I suppose we should get on with it, Ren." He turns away, snapping a hand at his trooper escorts to follow. Jeyna notices that Ren doesn't even glance at her as he follows Hux from the hangar.

It shouldn't bother her, but it does.