Force Dyad
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A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter.
Chapter Twenty-The Beginning of the Fall
Rey crouched down inside the dense foliage next to BB-8. "You need to stay out of sight just like Ben told you." She whispered to the little orange and white droid. "As soon as the lesson begins start recording, k'"
Her request was immediately met with a series of low whistles and high-pitched beeps from BB-8. Rey was still struggling to understand the droid's binary language but she was getting better every day. Ben made it look so easy. She was determined to become as competent as him one day.
Rey patted the little astromech's dome head. "I have to leave you now; the lesson is about to begin. Don't let me down now. Ben and I are counting on you."
BB-8 promised faithfully that he would. In the short time since he had been activated, the jittery little droid had become very attached to his new masters. He couldn't remember anything about his old ones, his memory banks had been completely wiped after the X-Wing went down. He watched Rey put a finger to her lips to quieten him when he erupted into a series of beeps and whistles.
"I'll see you later." Rey promised as she patted him one last time on his dome head and finally left him alone in his hiding place.
BB-8 rolled forward to get a better view of the landscape in front of him. It was another warm, sunny day and the lesson was being held outside the temple. The sunshine had warmth in its brilliance, reflecting a shimmer on BB-8's photoreceptor. He saw Rey reappear in his line of sight; she was half hidden amongst a group other young padawans.
Soon the object of all this subterfuge made her entrance. Voe strode confidently into view, her white hair was pulled neatly back from her face in several tight braids. Her dark brown eyes scanned the restless padawans as she impatiently called for order. Immediately all the padawans fell silent. No one wanted to cross Voe when she was in a bad mood.
"Today I'm going to be demonstrating some particularly difficult counter manoeuvres during your lightsaber training. So, you all need to pay careful attention." She said loudly.
Voe paced back and forth like a wildcat, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied the solemn faces of the young padawans. When she reached Rey- her gaze lingered and turned scornful. Rey looked back at her with equal dislike. She wasn't going to quail under Voe's pathetic attempt at intimidation. She would just walk out of the lesson again if Voe tried to give her another public dressing down like last time.
Voe's jaw pulsed with irritation at Rey's obvious show of defiance. She reluctantly tore her eyes away from her little nemesis and moved on until her attention fell on Finn, who as usual was sitting beside his best friend. "You." She demanded, pointing a finger at him. "Come here. You can partner me while I demonstrate."
Finn exchanged a wary glance with Rey. There was a collective intake of breath from the other padawans as he pushed himself onto his feet and reluctantly went to join Voe.
Everyone could feel the tension and hear the intensity in Voe's tone as she began to describe what she was about to do next. She urged Finn to draw his training saber and attempt to strike at her. Finn did so cautiously. This wasn't the usual way of things. Any difficult new manoeuvres were usually demonstrated by the older apprentices on each other, before they were broken down and taught to the young padawans, who would then practise it together. It should have been either Hennix or Ben partnering Voe, not an inexperienced youngling.
Rey could see the anxiety building in every line of Finn's body as he approached Voe, he cast a despairing look in Rey's direction as he attempted a weak strike at Voe.
"Concentrate on me. Not her." Voe reprimanded him as she easily countered Finn's weak strike with her own lightsaber and pushed him backwards. Before Finn had a chance to recover his balance, Voe brought her weapon down hard on his. There was a flash of green sparks as their lightsabers clashed together. Finn felt the forceful vibration ripple through his arm right down to his shoulder. He didn't have the strength or the skill to defend himself against the more experienced Voe. He fell to his knees, his lightsaber cutting out as it fell out of his grasp and rolled across the manicured lawn and out of reach.
"Pathetic." Voe sneered as she shut down her saber and towered over him. She continued to deride him and list his faults loudly in front of the others. Finn remained on his knees, his head bowed, with his arm and shoulder still throbbing with pain.
Even though Rey had initially vowed to maintain her silence and not intentionally provoke Voe so BB-8 could record without interruption, she just couldn't stand by and let Voe unfairly berate her best friend and shame him in front of the others like that. She jumped to her feet in defence of him, unwittingly putting herself in the eye of the storm.
"Are you challenging my authority?" Voe demanded.
Rey held her nerve as she shook her head. "I am not. I'm just telling you to leave Finn alone."
Voe's nostrils flared slightly in anger. Her gaze was unwavering as she ordered Finn to return to his place and demanded Rey take her turn. "As you seem to think so highly of yourself, youngling. Show me what you've got."
Rey glanced at Voe uneasily. Despite her best intentions to keep out of the spotlight, she had ended up arousing the older girl's ire yet again. As she moved to stand opposite the older girl, Rey could feel her nerves building. She always got anxious when she was about to do something big, and over the years those emotions had become markers for her to find her bravery, to go forwards, to tell herself that she had the strength to follow through.
"I'm ready." Rey said aloud, her voice surprisingly steady as she drew her weapon. She ignited the shimmering blue blade of her training saber and feigned an attack on Voe.
Voe skilfully deflected her saber, issuing a counter strike of her own. Rey ducked, rolling backwards as she avoided Voe's sweeping blade. She saw the glitter of frustration in the older girl's eyes at having avoided her blow and knew she was in trouble. This was no longer a demonstration. It wasn't even a sparring contest. It was a full-on fight.
Fine hairs had escaped the confines of Rey's long braid. It was starting to unravel. The silky strands lay like a second skin over her cheeks. Her legs felt empty and there was a rising feeling of nausea from her stomach. It never ceased to amaze her that the muscles that were working so hard only seconds ago now struggled to hold her weight. Perspiration coated her skin like a series of glittering jewels. She was tiring badly. Voe's greater weight and height as well as her wealth of experience meant that there was only going to be one winner of this contest.
Instead of running off for help, the other padawans remained transfixed by the sight of the heated duel taking place in front of them. Their lightsabers gleamed in the bright morning light as they clashed together over and over in a shower of green and blue sparks. A sudden gush of pain jolted throughout Rey's body as she endured a particularly hard strike from Voe. She dodged to the side in one fluid move, but Voe managed to swivel at the exact same time. Voe used the same manoeuvre she was supposed to have been demonstrating to the padawans on Rey, just like she had on Finn. Her shimmering green blade came down in a wide arc as she put all of her considerable strength behind the move. Her blade hit Rey's so ferociously that Rey had no chance to deflect it. Her wrist bent back at an impossible angle, the painful vibrations of the hit reaching right down to the bone as it snapped in half.
It had been there a while now, this anger, escaping whenever those he loved were hurt. Ben sat next to Rey's bed in the infirmary holding onto her good hand, trying to keep his emotions in check. The nurse droid had sedated the distressed young girl while they operated on the broken bone in her wrist. It was over now and Rey was well on the road to recovery, but it didn't assuage Ben's guilt that he hadn't been there to protect her when she needed him the most. He had been sent off-world at Skywalkers behest to pick up Tai from the Senate.
It was on the return journey that Ben knew something had happened to Rey. As he was piloting Grimtaash, he had suddenly felt an inexplicable pain ripple up his right arm, radiating out from his wrist. Her pain was his pain. The bond had opened and he had been tormented by the sight of Rey lying crumpled on the ground. He had no idea at the time what had happened or that Voe was involved. In fact, he had no memory of the rest of the trip back to the temple. He assumed Tai must have taken over piloting Grimtaash, and that he must have blacked out or something. His next sentient memory had been him rushing like a madman toward the infirmary calling Rey's name.
Ben caressed the top of Rey's head while she slept. Just to reassure himself she was safe now. He watched the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. Occasionally her breath hitched, a soft cry escaping her parted lips as she reacted to whatever she was seeing in her dreams. A gentle touch from his fingers on her forehead soothed her and she settled down again.
Ben stayed with her until sleep came to find him like the falling of an axe. He knew it must come but he fought it with everything that he had. He hated those defenceless hours, when he was oblivious to his surroundings. He thought he would be too wired to sleep but when the time came, he couldn't fight it anymore and the sleep was as instantaneous as it was unwelcome.
Ben woke suddenly, every thought in high definition at the sound of his name. His first glance was at Rey, only to find she was still asleep. His second took in Tai, who was standing at the foot of her bed, his compassionate gaze fixed on Rey. "How is she?" He asked.
"She'll recover in time." Ben's voice was thick with sleep. He stood up, pushing his hands through his inky black hair as he did so. "How long have I been out of it?"
"A few hours." Tai's voice was heavy with fatigue. He had been up half the night locked in a meeting with Skywalker and Hennix. Voe had been restricted to her quarters while Skywalker tried to work out exactly what had happened during Voe's training session.
"Did Skywalker send for me?" Ben demanded.
Tai winced at the harshness of Ben's tone. "You need to calm down." He warned.
"Don't tell me to stay calm!" Ben said through gritted teeth. "I want to know what Skywalker is going to do about Voe."
Tai frowned, motioning for Ben to follow him into the hall so they could talk without disturbing Rey. Ben was reluctant to leave her but he was desperate for answers. He touched her forehead gently, promising her in a low voice that he wouldn't be gone for too long.
"Well?" Ben demanded again when they reached the hallway.
"Master Skywalker is still conducting his investigation. He intends to talk to the other padawans this morning. Most of them were too distressed to talk after witnessing what happened to Rey yesterday. In the meantime, Voe has been restricted to her quarters. Hennix and I have already given Master Skywalker our opinions. We'll get to the bottom of this, Ben. Just be patient."
"I am done with being patient." Ben retorted angrily. "Its time Skywalker faced the consequences of his complacency."
Tai was alarmed at the fire in Ben's eyes. His knuckles were white from clenching his fists too hard, his jaw tight with suppressed rage. "Please, Ben, I implore you not to do anything you might come to regret later. You need to keep a cool head."
Ben didn't bother to respond. He turned away from Tai, burning rage hissing through his body like deathly poison. Fury was sweeping off him like ferocious waves.
It was time to put an end to things-Skywalker…Voe… they were both going to learn that no one hurt Rey without suffering the consequences.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.
