Rey woke with sunlight shining through the single dingy window in the room. The room looked better in the darkness of night than during the day. The bed she slept on were stained yellow, but at least they didn't smell like they looked. The room was built with wood, there was a small fireplace and above it was a pastoral painting that might be pleasant to look at if it weren't for the covering of soot. The room wasn't dirty, there wasn't dust to be seen on the small table, or the chair that was in front of the fireplace, but wasn't pristine either, though she had slept in worse accommodations.

What she did realize was that she was alone. The man she had stricken a deal with the night before was gone. Had he gone without her? She didn't even know where she was or how to get back to her ship if he had. Fear started to grip her stomach, she had nothing, no weapon, no friends, no money, only the force. She had the force, the grip on her stomach lessened, she would be fine, even alone on this planet. She then started thinking of what Geralt had said last night, that this world was full of monsters, both beast and human form. She just hoped that she could survive them.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she felt for the force around her. It was like saying good morning to an old friend, her oldest friend if she were to be honest with herself. The tightness in her stomach disappeared and she weaved in and out of the force. She could be herself in the force, the force calmed her nerves and made her realize that no matter what she would be alright even without Geralt.

There was a slam of a door, Reys eyes shot open, then there was another clatter, the table, chairs and small object that weren't nailed down in the rooms dropped to the floor with a crash. She looked over and saw Geralt at the closed door staring at her. He stood with his arms crossed and a not to happy expression on his face. Rey felt like a child being scolded for getting caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she could feel color flood her cheeks though she didn't know what she was being scolded for, nothing had broken. "What?" She asked.

Geralt walked over picking up the furniture that had fallen when her concentration had been broken. "What if it had been a maid that had seen that? Or the Innkeep?" Geralt asked "I told you last night that normal people do not like sorceresses. They are afraid of people like us. And it's even worse in Novigrad where we will be going today."

Rey rolled her eyes, she was sure she could take care of herself, especially if she were to get her lightsaber back. "Where is my weapon?" She asked. She didn't feel the same without the weight of it at her hip.

"Somewhere safe, somewhere you can't use it to kill me while I sleep." He answered.

Rey couldn't believe that they had made a deal and yet he thought she would kill him. Of course she could understand from what she had seen this was a primitive world. She was probably the first to ever visit this world from another, but it didn't mean it still didn't hurt a little. She wouldn't let it get to her, she would have to earn his trust, and he would have to earn hers in all actuality. She realized how naive she was being even sleeping in the same room with him, naïve to trust him so easily. She would know not to trust him until he proved himself. Though he did know this land and she did need him more than he needed her so she wouldn't break the deal. She would help him as much as she could until they could find his friend.

"Could I use the refresher before we go?" She asked.

Geralts brow furrowed in confusion. "Refresher?"

Rey could feel her cheeks turn hot again, "Where is the room I relieve myself in, a toilet, a sink maybe to wash the dirt from my neck?"

Geralt laughed loudly "A full room for all that?" He laughed walking over to a pan in the corner. "Here you are Empress." He said tossing it on the bed.

Rey froze at the words, anger filling her. "What did you call me?" she asked him almost growling. Geralt was shocked at the sudden change in this girl. She was just blushing and embarrassed and now she was angry and if looks could kill he would be dead already. But calling her an Empress had really gotten her pissed off, something that he didn't want to do if she were going to help him, even if she could help him. But also his curiosity was piqued, why would she be so upset about him calling her Empress.

"We don't know anything about each other, but I'll not call you Empress ever again." He told her to try to placate her.

Rey knew she was being absurd, but the last person that had called her Empress was the Emperor and she couldn't keep the memories back of Exegol and rage overtook her. She thought of the man, the sith, who took it all away from her. She gathered herself together and calmed her thoughts, Geralt didn't know anything about her life, he didn't know what she had gone through. It was just a word.

"I'm sorry Geralt. I over reacted." She said sadly. "I'm an orphan, my mother and father was killed when I was a child. I didn't learn until recently that they were dead, I had lived my whole life thinking they would come and rescue me from the horrible place I lived. They of course never did. I knew deep down that they weren't coming back but I needed that hope to hold on to. If I had no hope I would have died on Jakku from the heat, from starvation. Hope was the only thing I had." She said giving him a sad smile. Geralt sat beside her hoping she would continue. "There was a war going on in the Galaxy. It was a fight that many people died from, so many people. We won, but looking at the whole, I wonder if we did. During this war I had met my grandfather, he was an Emperor, the Emperor of the entire galaxy at one time. He wanted me to fall to the darkness that I know is within me… He wanted me to become the Empress, to rule the galaxy with him pulling the strings. The man who killed my parents, who killed so many people, the puppet master of so much darkness, my grandfather who I had to kill, wanted to make me the Empress of the Galaxy." She said looking at Geralt to see his reaction to her wild tale in which he did look sympathetic to her past. "That's the very abridged version." Her sad smile returning.

"The friend that I'm looking for, her name is Cirilla, Ciri. She is my daughter, well, like my daughter. She is in danger, and she is much like you I think." He told Rey. Rey lifted a brow and smirked at him but didn't say anything hoping he would continue. "She is tough, and she thinks she can handle herself. She fiercely loves the few she is closest with but she goes into things without thinking them through. Ciri is very special and there is an army after her. I can't let her face them alone." He told her. She could see the stress and worry in his face.

"Well Geralt, what are we waiting for? Let's go find your daughter." Rey said standing up and smiling hoping that this could be the first step for trusting eachother.

He stood in front of Rey placing his hand on her shoulder, "Thank you Rey of Jakku."

Rey and Geralt left the inn and Rey was seeing this world for the first time. The roads were all dirt and mud. The Inn and surrounding buildings were built with wood and thatched roofs, and a wall surrounding it all made of cut trees. There were people working, tending animals or small gardens, there was a couple children running trying to catch a chicken that ran past her. She followed Geralt to a lean to where she saw the pulga from the evening before. The wound was completely healed but the hair that had once been there was missing revealing the claw marks that had torn into its flesh.

"That one is yours." Geralt said pointing to a pure black pulga. It was a beautiful animal but she wasn't sure how well she would do riding it. She was used to speeders, but she controlled those, those don't have minds of their own. "Have you ever ridden?" he asked her, she shook her head no. "He is gentle, a gelding, older but still fast when needed." Geralt untied the reigns, "When you want to go left, move these to the left, when you want to go right, move these to the right. When you want to go straight keep them loose, when you want to stop, pull back." He put the reigns over the horses head and put his hand down so she could use it as a step up to get in the saddle. Rey looked at him questioningly. "Put your foot on my hand so I can give you a lift up into the saddle."

Rey did as he asked and was lifted in the air, she swung her leg over the horse and sat comfortably in the saddle. The horse shifted a bit getting used to the extra weight which made Rey nervous, she wrapped her arms around the horses neck and heard Geralt laugh. "Sit up Rey and hold the reigns lightly." He told her handing her the reigns. "Now, put your feet in here." He said holding the stirrup so she could slide her foot in. He lifted the leather beside her leg and adjusted the length, then went around and fixed the other stirrup so she could slip her foot in.

"We will go slow and hope he follows Roach until you get the hang of it." He told her as he got on his own horse.

Rey watched him effortlessly get on his horse and realized it was almost as if getting on a speeder, if the speeder were higher off the ground and moved while jumping on it. She watched as Geralt pulled the reigns to the right and the horses neck turned right, it's body following it's neck. It started walking through the mud and Rey followed Geralt's motions, her horse's head moved to the right and it's body did too, but it didn't stop turning, it just spun in a circle until she ended up pointing the same way as she started.

"Geralt, I think I broke my roach." She said to him.

He looked back and smiled, he couldn't help it. "Well first of all you can't name your horse Roach, that's her name." He told her nodding to his horse. "Second, once you've pointed your horses head the direction you want to go you should stop moving the reigns in that direction. Let's see you do it."

Rey did as instructed and the horse turned and started walking down the lane. Rey smiled for her accomplishment. It really was like a larger living breathing speeder and was sure once she got used to it she would be a pro.

Rey and Geralt had rode out of the small village following the narrow dirt road. She thought she was getting the hand of riding the animal, at least she wasn't as fearful as she was when she first got on it. "What is this animal called on this world?" She asked Geralt.

"A horse."

"And yours is named Roach?" She asked, he nodded. "What's mines name then?"

Geralt shrugged, "Whatever you want to name him I guess."

Rey had never named anything before, well anything living at least. She had named her speeder gofer, and her little doll she had named Thane, a rebel pilot she had heard stories about on Jakku. She looked at the beautiful black coat of the horse and only one name popped into her head. Vader…. She thought it was a bit morbid to name her horse that but it seemed fitting. It intimidated her just as Vader had intimidated an entire galaxy, he was as dark as space and she could feel the power that the animal possessed. "Vader. His name will be Vader."