The rain had completely stopped by the time Rey arrived, just in time to see Ben stop the attack of a large, hulking beast, cutting off one of its limbs with his lightsaber in the process. The creature was black as midnight, with five remaining legs and large, spiked tentacles growing out of its back. It growled as it began to stand back up from where it had fallen, baring long, sharp fangs and even angrier now that it was in pain.
Ben was standing a few feet away from it, a deep gash on his cheek and breathing heavily; his face paler than it should be. With one arm he was holding onto Squeak, who was clutching onto his shirt with her face buried in his shoulder, while the other hand held his lightsaber at the ready.
She stepped up to him, placing a hand on his free shoulder. He looked over at her and his shoulders relaxed; she felt the tension beginning to leave him.
I'm here for you, Ben
He nodded, and she stepped forward, placing herself in the beast's line of sight. It roared before charging forward, but she was ready. Eir had really wanted them not to kill anything unless they had to, and this thing was really pushing it. Rey swung her staff at the beast, channeling the force through it to send the creature crashing into a nearby tree a lot harder than was completely necessary.
The beast staggered as it got up, glaring at her. Rey glared back with her own equally fierce gaze, refusing to back down. Nothing was allowed to take away what was hers. Nothing. They stared at each other for a long, tense moment, before the beast growled lowly before limping away.
She stood there for a moment, letting the tension leave her as she let out a breath. She turned around in time to see Ben stagger, a hand on his forehead.
"Ben!" She hurried over to him, bracing him before he could fall.
"I'm alright," he managed out, looking at her weakly, "just a bit dizzy." He leaned against her heavily, with Squeak hanging onto him more then he was holding her.
"Don't lie just to make me feel better." She said, knowing exactly how well he didn't feel. His face was too pale and his breathing was ragged; his thoughts turning fuzzy. He hadn't lost that much blood and she frowned, the knot in her stomach returning even tighter than before; the beast's spikes must have been coated in something toxic. She didn't know all the effects, but there was no way she was going to sit around and find out.
She reached up to gently place a hand on the gash, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath, concentrating as she reached within her, pouring her life into him and drawing out the poison. It was only when she heard his breathing return to normal and his heartbeat slow down did she open her eyes to meet his. "Better?"
"Much, thank you." He stood up straight again, but not before leaning over and placing a light kiss on her cheek.
"You nearly gave me a heart attack, with that, you know." She crossed her arms, trying to come across as angry, but still fighting the smile that was tugging at the corner of her lips. "I do not appreciate getting a busy signal. And weren't you the one who said to keep in contact?"
"I know and I'm sorry."
"You better tell me what happened."
"Well-"
Ben was cut off by a sudden sob next to him, drawing both of their attentions to Squeak, who began openly crying, clinging onto his shirt even tighter.
Ben looked at Rey, the look of complete helplessness adorable.
What am I supposed to do?!
Rey smiled softly, taking his free hand and lightly placing it on top of Squeak's head.
Just keep holding her. Wouldn't you cry after going through such an ordeal?
He nodded awkwardly, moving so that he was holding Squeak more securely. "We should get her out of here."
Rey nodded. "I'll let the others know that we found her."
You still need to tell me what happened back there, you know.
They were on their way back to the village, and Squeak had calmed down from out right sobbing to scattered sniffles here and there. Rey still wanted to know how Ben had found the child, but didn't dare voice it out loud in case it sent her into another wave of crying.
Ben sighed softly next to her.
It was just a lucky shot.
That is not an explanation, Ben.
I stopped it from attacking Squeak and tried to shot at it to scare it away, but it had the ability to make an illusion of itself.
So you missed and it got you.
Unfortunately.
She could feel him grumbling about it and couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. He shot her a look.
It's not that funny.
No, because I really was worried about you, but your reaction is cute.
…shut up.
She smiled at him, laughing still a bit to herself as she watched his cheeks turn a light shade of pink.
"How did you get here so quickly, anyway?" He asked.
"It was easy, I simply followed this." She paused, reaching over and lightly tugging at the end of the ribbon that was tied on his wrist. It was a familiar knot; one that she had made several times before. It was quick and easy to make, yet extremely useful.
Ben's eyes widened slightly as he took note of the ribbon himself, reaching over with his free hand to take hers and admire the elegant bow that was tied there. "How did you find this?" She could hear the curiosity in his voice, feel the intrigue – the need to know how things worked – rising from within him. She couldn't help but smile, a warm feeling starting in her chest as she watched him carefully turn her wrist over as he inspected the ribbon.
"I could tell you were hurt and needed to find you. I knew picking a random direction wouldn't do any good and it just sort of…appeared as if to answer my call."
"Well it certainly had great timing." He gave her his own smile, placing his palm against hers and intertwining their fingers. It was fascinating to watch; the closer their hands became, the shorter the ribbon was until it molded seamlessly into one, binding their hands together.
/
Upon exiting the dark woods, they were met with the rest of the search party, who looked a bit worse for wear.
"I am glad that the two of you were able to find her." Eir was the one to speak up, looking to be in the best shape out of all of them, before turning to address the group as a whole. "Thank you to everyone who helped out tonight. To those of you in need of medical assistance, Mer is standing ready at her house."
The crowd dispersed then, with only Amir lingering. He looked over at them, taking in the sight of Ben holding onto to Squeak.
Ben was about to say something about his staring, but stopped when he felt Rey's hand on his arm. "Is there something you wanted to ask us, Amir?" She was being defensive, yet tactful.
"...No, it's nothing." Amir shook his head, turning around and leaving.
"Well then," Eir began, turning back to Rey and Ben, "I really am quite relieved that you were able to find dear Squeak." She placed a hand lightly on the child's head before adding, "I would like hear what happened, however." Her eyes drifted over to the sight of the dried blood on Ben's cheek, but with no wound for which it could have come from.
"We'll answer yours if you answer ours." Ben said firmly.
Eir paused, confused for a moment before a look of realization spread across her face. "This about the ruins, isn't? Mercy told me that you went there and took care of the rogue droid. Thank you for that, by the way."
"It wasn't any trouble, really. But it did leave us with some questions." Rey said. "We have an idea of what happened, but confirmation would be nice."
Eir nodded slowly. "Alright, I suppose I owe the two of you that much."
Before they headed to Eir's house, they first dropped Squeak off with Vikki at the tavern, who looked like she had been crying for some time before they arrived. The child in question had fallen asleep at some point on their way back through the dark woods, and even though she wasn't awake it had taken a bit of gentle prying to get her fingers to release from Ben's sleeve.
Ben wasn't really sure why he felt a twinge of regret as he handed Squeak over to Vikki.
Vikki had asked them if they were going to stay there like the rest of the search team, draped in blankets and eating the food that she had promised them earlier. They declined, stating that instead they had some things to discuss with Eir. Vikki had seemed disappointed, but nodded and let them go.
When they finally entered Eir's house, it was warm and filled with the smell of cooking meats. "Go ahead and take a seat at the table, and I'll be there shortly." Eir said, motioning over to the table where three placings had been set, along with blankets that had been set on two of the chairs.
Eir turned to them once they had sat down, placing steaming mugs in front of them.
"What is this?" Ben asked, staring at the drink cautiously. There was a slightly sweet, minty scent coming from it.
"I thought it would be nice to have something warm to drink after so much time spent out in the cold," Eir began, "it is called Cataria, and is my favorite tea. I also thought that it would be nice to have while we waited for the rest of the food to be ready."
"You're going to feed us?" Rey asked, instantly perking up.
"Of course; it's almost mid-day and you've had a long morning. I would not be a good host if I did not do this much." Eir said with a smile, before turning back to the kitchen to attend to what she was making.
"Thank you." Rey said, wrapping her fingers around her mug gratefully and taking a sip.
A little food and drink and you're sold. If I had known that was all it took to win your favor, I would have tried that instead.
It would have worked better then offering to rule the galaxy.
Ben had to stop himself from choking.
Are you ever going to let me live that down?
We'll see.
Rey was hiding a mischievous smile behind her mug and if Eir hadn't been present he would've kissed his other half then and there.
"Well, I do believe that the time has finally come for questions to be answered." Eir said once their meal was over. The older woman had insisted that serious discussions were not something to be had while eating; that in it there would be the potential to spoil the food. Ben thought it a bit odd, but hadn't really minded. He had never been very good at small talk, and had instead opted to just listen to the other two's chatter. Eir was a pretty decent cook, he decided, and depending on how the rest of their conversation went he might need to come back and ask her for her methods.
"You wanted to know what happened in the dark woods, right?"
Eir nodded. "It is rather strange to return with the signs of having been wounded but lacking any such injury to speak of." She glanced over at Ben, to where the dried blood had since been washed off.
"It's simple: I healed it." Rey spoke in a matter of fact tone, as if it had been a task as simple as breathing.
Eir's eyes widened slightly. "Force healing..." She muttered under her breath. "That is something I had only ever heard whispers of." She smiled softly. "Perhaps there are still some things that I can learn after all. It must have been a worse wound then I had initially thought, however, for you to have felt the need to use such an ability."
"It really wasn't that bad. I'm sure I would've been -"
"You better not finish that sentence with 'would've been fine'." Rey cut him off with a piercing look and he could feel her anger flaring, "One of these days I will get you to value your wellbeing more."
It was a confusing kind of anger, different from the one that he had witnessed every other time before. He wasn't sure why she would be so angry; it wasn't that big of a deal -
You're an idiot, Ben Solo.
She narrowed her eyes as she continued to stare at him, crossing her arms.
Oh. That's why.
It was sad, he figured, just how easy it was for him to still forget about the fact that there was someone out there that actually cared about his health. The reality that she did, in fact, care enough about him to be angry over it only made her that much more precious to him. He reached out, gently taking one of her hands and placing a soft kiss on her knuckles.
I'm sorry.
Rey visibly softened then, a small sigh escaping her.
You better be.
"It really is such a pleasure knowing you two." It was only at Eir's soft, wistful voice from across the table that they were both sent back to the reality that they were not, in fact, alone.
