Rey and The Princesses of Power

by kirasbens

The First Order and The Resistance have been fighting for a very, very long time. The First Order claims to want to restore order to their planet, and that means wiping out the princesses. *cross posted from AO3

The first home that Rey had ever known was the Fright Zone. It was the place where she remembered growing up. In its long corridors and many training rooms, learning how to fight, because eventually she would be needed in the First Order's fight against the Rebellion and all of their followers in Brightmoon. Rey was small when she had already gotten used to the order of the Fright Zone, and the way that everything worked. But it was clear that not everyone did. She watched other kids be transported to the same school that she was in, and she heard them cry all the time. She wished that she could tell that everything was going to be okay. That it wasn't so bad when you got used to it. She was pretty sure that none of them would ever believe her though.

The first home that Rey had ever known was the Fright Zone. It was the place that she learned that she needed to defend herself. So, she picked herself up and fought. She advanced quickly, and right next to her was best friend, Ben.

Rey had learned how to be an early riser at a young age. The First Order demanded that you be up in a timely manner so that you could complete your training, and since Rey preferred to not get in trouble with the higher-ups, she got up before the comm system went off. The static-filled voice of a woman she did not know was one of the most familiar things to her now. "All squadrons, report to training area immediately for evaluation." She was already in the locker room getting dressed for training when the others from her cadet squadron groaned, tiredly coming in and getting dressed.

There was no sign of Ben anywhere. "Hey Finn," Rey turned, "have you seen Ben?"

"No," He shrugged, "he probably hid somewhere to sleep more. Like usual."

"Great," Rey sighed, "well get ready for training anyway. I want everyone doing their best today,"

"Yes, ma'am." She heard Hux mutter under his breath as he tugged his boots on. Bazine rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Like usual.

Finn was the first after Rey to be done getting ready. Of course, Hux was the one who took the longest.

Training had always been grueling since Rey was a little kid, but it was something that she got used to after years and years of learning. The Fright Zone and the First Order was very technologically advanced, and they spared no expense when it came to technology in the training room. Each trainee was fitted with visors that would show them the lay of the land in places that they only heard about in briefings. Like Takodana, otherwise known as the Whispering Woods. It was supposed to be a place filled with chaos and cruel magic, and no lone First Order soldier that went out there alone came back alive. Each training session got them ready for the day when they would eventually have to breach the woods and fight the princesses, that way they would be able to bring peace to the planet.

Rey had become good at taking down the bots in these simulations, but it was evident that not everyone was. Her team took down two bots before one of them shot Hux in the chest and the small green light that was on his chest plate turned red. "Aw, man. I'm dead."

"That's what you get for not watching where you're going." Finn laughed.

Hux rolled his eyes, "Remember me as you continue the battle."

"Oh my god, you two are so dramatic." Rey turned and used her training blaster to down a bot that had been whizzing up behind her.

That's when a much, much, larger training bot appeared into the arena. Her visor displaying the gruesome image of one of their enemies. A princess. A magical creature that was supposed to sew chaos wherever she went. "Oh fuck," Finn groaned. Bazine was the first one that shot at it, but Rey didn't freeze.

"Hey, princess. You looking at me?" She started off in a running sprint, knowing that this training mission was going to take a lot longer than usual.

Just when she thought it was over. There were more. Rey was never one to back down from a challenge though. "Uh, is Ben still not here yet?" She asked. "We could really use him," Finn mumbled something in frustration that Rey couldn't hear. She was sure it was something like, 'What did you expect? He's always late.' She shook it off and kept fighting.

It seemed that Asaji Ventress and the other higher-up members of the First Order were feeling particularly sadistic today. Another larger training bot appeared in the arena. "Ugh. Not again." Hux whimpered. Something that Rey would laugh at if she wasn't so focused. Then they were given a break after Rey destroyed the last one. It didn't last long though.

"At attention cadets," A voice said, "this is a very important simulation and we've just been informed that not everyone is here yet. We'll be starting over. Your new situation will be a little more interesting, you will be traversing the Whispering Woods when you're attacked by more of the forces of Bright Moon. Your mission is to defeat the Queen of the Princesses, Amilyn Holdo, and liberate Bright Moon in the name of Supreme Leader Snoke. Where's Ben?"

"He'll be here—"

"—are you so sure about that?" Hux whispered under his breath. Bazine elbowed him the ribs.

"I promise," Rey gave her best smile up to the spectator's box, knowing the people behind the glass were staring down at her and evaluating her every move.

"Right," The soldier didn't sound convinced. "Anyways, the princesses are vicious, violent creatures. They will take you out if given the chance. Don't. Good luck, cadets."

"Kriff," Rey muttered to herself.

Ben wasn't here yet, again, but the simulation was starting over again.

"Watch out!" Rey said as a beam appeared out of nowhere. This time Hux barely avoided it. But he rolled on his training blaster and promptly broke it in the process.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!"

"Come on, this way!" Rey shouted. She knew that the rest of her team was tired. Hux lasted a little longer this time before getting out. He wasn't the first to get out. This time Finn didn't even have time to make fun of him. Tiles of the ever-changing floor disappeared after turning red, Bazine was the one to fall straight through one of them. Rey took out another bot with the staff she had been using just a minute before.

"Aw, damn it." Hux was the next to get out, but of course, it didn't look like he was even really trying this time.

"Seriously, Armie?"

"Bra-vo."

Finn nearly tripped over Hux, "Seriously, Armie?"

"Run!" The bot counter came on. Four left. Great.

"Rey!" Rey turned just in time to avoid being shot, nearly knocking her visors off and scrambling to get them on the right way as Finn covered her. He managed to get another two bots before getting out. "Ah, man. Sorry, Rey."

"It's okay! I got it!" The last one was easy enough for her until an alarm started beeping and the bot nearly shot her. She managed to get off it in time, but she lost her balance, right as one of the tiles disappeared. Rey yelped, holding onto her position on the platform with only her staff. That's when she saw him. He was just a shadow at first, but he sent the last bot careening into a disappearing tile, and Rey couldn't help but smile for a second.

"Training simulation, over."

Ben waltzed over to where she was and leaned over, "Hey, Rey. How's it hanging?"

Rey rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "Really, Ben? Did you just show up late and let us do all the hard stuff? That's low, even for you."

"Aw, I think you're underestimating me. Nothing's too low for me." He let out a low chuckle and jutted out a hand. "Now come on, you look stupid hanging down here." He pulled her up, back onto the platform, and she couldn't help but giggle a little as he did so.

Rey knew that there was a time before she and Ben were friends. She just couldn't remember it. She grew up here, in the Fright Zone, and so had Ben. No matter what he always managed to make her laugh and make her feel a little less on edge than she usually was. Not a lot of people could do that. "You should've seen your face when I stole that bot from you," He laughed, "you looked so betrayed. It was hilarious."

Rey and Ben walked into the locker room to get changed.

"Come on, Ben. We're senior cadets. I can't believe you're still pulling childish pranks like that—is that a mouse?"

All of a sudden Ben's tail went straight as he looked around, "What? Where!?" Rey let out a sharp laugh. She couldn't help it. He relaxed and rolled his eyes.

"Are you ever going to not fall for that?"

"I don't know, are you ever going to let me live that down? It was one time."

"I know, but for some reason, it's always so funny." The laughing started to dwindle. Rey felt sick to her stomach and she could see Ben was feeling uneasy as well. The room got darker and the lights flickered, and Ben was looking past her.

Rey turned around, uneasy. "Asaji Ventress," She saluted but the witch dismissed her.

"You have done well today; you've completed your training course in record time."

"Yeah uh—well. It wasn't just me! Ben did too,"

"Ah, yes. How someone as unmotivated as you completed the course at that time, I will never know." Ben didn't say anything. Rey knew what he was thinking though. All Rey could do was give him a reassuring look before she continued talking.

"Rey, come walk with me?" Rey glanced from the masked witch to Ben and then back again.

"Of course,"

When Ben first came to the First Order, he was weak. It was something that he didn't like to look back on, but something that he couldn't help but think about. He had just watched his parents get killed a day before he arrived, and he was expected to just be okay with it and not cry. "It's going to be okay," One of the First Order soldiers had told him as he brought him up on a tank, with some other children, "You are going to be alright. Once you get back to the Fright Zone you will bathe in the light of the Supreme Leader, and then you will be able to join us in the worthy cause of bringing peace to the world." That didn't do anything to calm Ben's nerves in the slightest.

Ben learned very quickly that everyone around him was bigger and scarier, even some of the kids would make fun of his ears and his tail and things that he couldn't help. Some of the other soldiers would say things like, "Are you sure that you want to take him with us? Asaji Ventress would eat him alive,"

"I think that he would be useful eventually." Was the usual reply.

All Ben did was cry at first. It was all that he knew how to do. He was in a scary place that was filled with smog and smoke and metal. He was so young that he couldn't even remember what his home was like. Did he even have a home? He couldn't even remember what his parents faces looked like after a few days.

He had been there for a week when he ran off into one of the many corridors in the Fright Zone, electing to hide behind a bunch of crates because he didn't know what else to do. It was dark and everything was so scary to him and he was shaking. He cried so much that he was pretty sure that he would never be able to cry again.

And then he met her.

Rey.

The Fright Zone wasn't his first home, but she made it his home.

"Did I do something wrong?" Rey asked.

"No, that is not what I wish to say, child," Asaji said. She turned a corner with Rey into a less busy corridor and turned around. "The Supreme Leader has been watching you. He thinks you're an exceptional candidate for Force Captain."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, the Supreme Leader sees great promise in you. In fact, he has elected you the honor of leading a squadron in the invasion of the rebel Fortress Kashyyk."

"Kashyyk? You mean we're finally going into active duty?"

"You are," Asaji paused. That gave Rey concern. She emphasized just Rey. That wasn't good.

"I will be able to bring my team around though, right?"

"Your team is not ready," The witch said flippantly, "they will only slow you down. That is not tolerated in the First Order."

"With all due respect, Asaji Ventress, my team is my greatest strength and they've been training really hard for this too. And Ben, he really wants to get out there and prove himself. He always has." Part of her felt guilty now that she was being told that she was going to be promoted. Especially when it was something that Ben had been working towards since he was a kid. Rey was more concerned with making sure she kept him and her other friends safe. She didn't really care about titles that much—or at least she told herself that she shouldn't care about titles that much.

"Then he should work harder to prove himself to me. This is what I raised you for, Rey. Now you must prove yourself. I saw talent, power in you even, from the moment I took you in as a baby. Isn't this what you want?"

"Yes," Her stomach still felt sick, thinking about Ben. She knew that if she showed Asaji Ventress that she was upset though, things would be a lot worse for both of them.

"With you at the front of the First Order, we will crush the Rebellion once and for all. Don't disappoint me." With that, she disappeared. Rey carrying a badge that she had yet to put on in her hand, not sure what to do with it.

Bright Moon was a large and majestic Kingdom and the capitol for most of the magical beings that lived in all of Coruscant. It was almost nighttime, so the sky was a soft purple color as the sun started to set. Queen Holdo sat in her throne room, her wings tucked behind her as she read a message from a messenger in Kashyyk. She sighed, knowing what was going to come next wasn't going to be pleasant. Rose, her adoptive daughter, had been waiting to speak to her for about an hour and Amilyn was waiting until she wasn't mad enough to bring her in. She supposed that wasn't going to happen. "Send her in,"

Rose was second in line to the throne, and Amilyn's daughter. Bright Moon had long since thrown away the tradition of 'royal blood' and instead welcomed this change. From a young age Rose had known that she had a power she couldn't fully understand, but she tried her best. She could teleport places, even if it was limited, and she was good at it. She was also good at fighting, so even though her mother didn't want her to fight in the war, Rose had made her case and became a commander for the rebellion of Bright Moon at fifteen.

There was one problem though. Rose wasn't exactly the best at taking orders. Especially not from her mother. She really tried, but there were times when she could tell that her mother wasn't letting her be the commander that she needed to be in order to help the rebellion because she was her mother. "Your Majesty,"

Amilyn sighed, and she know that she was in for a scolding. Rose winced in preparation for it. "I'm told you disobeyed orders and led the Rebellion into a dangerous combat situation after you were ordered to retreat." Rose already knew what she was going to say. They had had this argument many times before. It was never resolved.

"I was trying to protect a village from falling into The Order's grasp." Her mother didn't seem satisfied. Rose felt her cheeks turning hot red, knowing that the rest of the court was there watching her mother chew her out.

"You were reckless and put yourself and the other rebels in danger."

"Fighting is supposed to be dangerous! How are we going to hold our own against The Order if we keep retreating? Pretty soon, we won't have anything left to defend." She knew that she should not get this exasperated when her mother was talking to her like this, but she couldn't help it. She guessed that it was just her mother knowing exactly how to push her buttons.

"I'm growing tired of your back-talking, Commander Rose."

"Why did you even make me a commander if you won't let me fight?"

She knew that one wasn't going to go over well, she could see it on her mother's face. "That's enough! You're grounded!"

"Ugh, mom! Seriously?" This always happened.

"You heard me! You are grounded, young lady."

"Come on, I won the fight and I came back and I'm fine! You're just mad because I proved you wrong."

"Enough,"

"You never let me do anything!"

"We are not having this discussion tonight. You are embarrassing me in front of my royal court."

"Oh, I'm embarrassing you?" Rose couldn't resist throwing in a final jab.

"Go to your room!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Ben knew that something was up with Rey. She had been walking around aimlessly with no objective whatsoever, and that was something that she only did when she was stressed out. Granted, that happened a lot. Rey was kind of famous for getting stressed out around the Fright Zone. Still, he had reason to be concerned about her. He followed her outside to one of the many places where people didn't watch them, right near the entrance to one of the higher watch points.

He hopped up on the rail next to where she was staring at something that she was holding. "What did she say?" Rey grunted as Ben's curiosity piqued. "Hey, what's this?" He grabbed the shiny thing from Rey's hand before she could even comprehend what was going on.

"Hey! Give it back." She made a motion to reach for it but Ben was too quick and chuckled.

"Oh cool. You've been promoted?"

"Well, kind of. I mean, yeah, I guess. But it's not a big deal."

Ben couldn't help but feel a small feeling of jealousy at first, but then it was replaced with an overwhelming amount of happiness for his best friend. "Are you kidding? That is awesome. We're gonna see the world and conquer it. Rey, I need to blow something up." He was purring. Something he was usually embarrassed to do unless he was around Rey.

"Uh, yeah—about that—" Her voice trailed off meekly and the excitement that he had felt just a second ago promptly died.

"What?"

"Asaji Ventress told me that you weren't allowed to come,"

"What? My time was just as good as yours today. What is her problem with me?"

Rey didn't know why she was defending her. She hated Asaji Ventress as much as the next person. And yet it still came out of her mouth. "I mean, you are kind of disrespectful."

She could tell that irritated Ben more than anything. "Why should I respect her? She's just bitter that she doesn't have any real power that doesn't come from the Supreme Leader and everyone knows it. I guess it sure must be easy being a people pleaser like you." She winced at that.

"I am not—" Ben was already walking away, climbing to a higher point that was going to take Rey a few minutes to reach.

She was out of breath by the time she reached the top of the platform. It was hotter outside than usual today, and Rey hated it. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't even think you wanted to be a Force Captain." That was a lie. She knew that was a lie too. He would never admit it but Ben had always idolized the people that were more powerful than him and Rey never knew why. She just kept her head down and did her job to the best of her ability. She knew that would keep her safe. That would keep her friends safe. She was more worried about her friends that she was about this stupid promotion.

"I don't. Here, take your stupid badge."

Rey knew that Ben had a right to be mad. She knew that he had been working towards this to, but there was something about the way that he was acting that made her angry. "Oh, okay." She sighed.

"What?"

"It's just—it's been something we've both been looking forward to our whole lives and I don't know—I thought you would be happy for me. When it happened." She could see Ben staring at her out of the corner of her eye as she looked out at the Fright Zone. Sometimes she came up here, even when he wasn't here, just so she could look out at the rest of the land and wonder what was around here. She wondered if the Whispering Woods would be as scary as the First Order led her to believe. She questioned a lot of things when she was up here alone.

Ben was silent for a little before he sat down next to her and nudged her shoulder, she looked over at him and smiled, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I just want to get out this dump," Ben admitted, "It's so boring out here. I wonder what's even outside the Fright Zone anyway."

"Didn't you used to live somewhere beyond the Fright Zone?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember where and I don't remember what anything else looks like."

"I guess I would be the same way if I wasn't born in the Fright Zone,"

"Yeah," The two of them were silent for a while, Rey still leaning on Ben's shoulder.

"Ben," She muttered.

"Yeah?"

"I have an idea," She giggled.

"Oh really?"

Ben knew that Rey hated doing things that would get her in trouble. It was something that she had always hated doing since they met. The only times that she ever seemed to get in trouble was when the two of them were together. Which was probably not the greatest thing ever.

Ben liked to think that Rey could be more of herself with him than she was with anyone else in the First Order. This time, she had the idea of stealing one of the First Order's speeders from the ship bay and went speeding off with Ben in tow. "I can't believe you actually stole a speeder. You're officially awesome."

"Borrowed. Please don't make me regret this." She laughed nervously. They were whipping by buildings and getting further than either of them had ever been. Every once and a while Rey would cut it close to something and Ben would wonder if she was going to get the both of them killed.

"I've always wanted to drive one of these things. Here, I'll take that."

Rey let him take it without arguing, probably not expecting him to go faster than she had in the first place. He had originally intended to take it safe, but the idea was just too tempting in his head.

"Whoa, there. Save us enough fuel to get back."

"That's a problem for future us,"

"Okay, I think you've had enough time."

"No, I'm driving—" Both of them said simultaneously. Ben couldn't remember much of their fight. It was stupid and the two of them were bickering at each other and yanking the speeder every which way while they were arguing, and then they abruptly stopped at the cusp of a place that certainly wasn't anywhere in the Supreme Leader's territory anymore.

Rey knew the day would come where she would go to the Whispering Woods, she just didn't think that this was the day it would be. She was already regretting her idea to steal a speeder with Ben, missing the Fright Zone, and wishing that the two of them could turn around and go back already. She was about to say something when Ben said, "What is that?" He was staring up at the large blue and green trees with this wonder and curiosity in his eyes that Rey had never seen before.

"I think this must be the Whispering Woods. They say there are strange, old monsters in there, an- and the trees move when you're not looking. Every FO squadron they've sent in there has never come out again."

Of course, this didn't deter Ben. Because why would it? "Let's go in."

Meanwhile, Rey was on the cusp of having a panic attack when she heard those three words. "Wait, what?" Sometimes she wondered if Ben ever listened to anything that she actually said. He started speeding into the woods with this determination that she hadn't seen before, laughing like this was all a game. Meanwhile Rey was holding on for dear life, hoping that the two of them would make it out of this alive.

"Uh, Ben—" She yelped.

"What?"

"Slow down, there's a tree comin—" She didn't finish the sentence before the two of them crashed into a tree and Rey fell unconscious.

It didn't take very long for Rey to wake up after she hit that tree. She glanced around, not knowing where she was at first. Everything around her seemed—alive. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced in the First Order. The grass below her was soft and little lights flickered around her. She glanced left and right, looking for Ben. She was really starting to regret stealing that speeder. Her first thought was that she hoped that Ben wasn't injured. The next thing she thought was Asaji Ventress was going to kill both of them if she found out that they stole a speeder if it was broken.

She hated the idea that she might get Ben in trouble and it made her feel sick to her stomach. She swallowed her nerves, muttering to herself, "Rey, you are not going to have a panic attack today. You're of no use to Ben like that." After she was sure that she got her heart rate under control, she continued. Her eyes swept the brush around her, trying not to get overwhelmed by the fact that she had never been around this much green in her life.

Everything felt alive.

She felt alive.

It was an odd feeling to have in a place that was supposed to be evil. "Ben?" She whispered. She got up and walked through some brush. Trying not to be in awe of how colorful everything was, and not in this artificial sort of way either. This was—different. "Ben?" She called again.

She didn't find Ben. Instead she pushed past more brush as she saw something glowing in the distance. She got closer, pushing a branch out of the way to get a better look at whatever was glowing. That's where she saw it. "Woah," A sword that was stuck in stone, vines and moss growing over it. There was a gemstone in the middle of it that was glowing this bright blue color. She'd never seen anything like it before.

She stared at it for what seemed like a long time, remembering some of her classes on how dangerous some of the things that the princesses made were. That didn't stop her from being intrigued about this.

Rey knew that touching a glowing sword that she had never seen before was probably a bad idea, but she couldn't help it. It was like her body was moving without her mind even commanding it. Something told her that she needed to touch that sword, so she did.

Lights flashed around her and Rey was transported somewhere else. It looked like a dark corridor, the lights glowing blue and purple. Rey could swear that she heard someone crying. That cry sounded so familiar, but Rey couldn't place the memory. It was like it was locked away, somewhere far in her mind that she would never be able to reach. Rey gasped as a woman appeared, far off in the distance. Rey couldn't make out any of her features, but she could see her. "Balance must be restored, Coruscant must seek a hero." The crying got louder.

"Rey," The voice said again, "Rey?" The corridor disintegrated around her. "Find me, Rey."

"Rey? Hey, Rey! Wake up," Ben watched as Rey groaned and looked up at him, he'd been trying to get her to wake up for five minutes, starting to get worried that something really bad had happened to her. He let out a little sigh of relief when she opened her eyes. Suppressing a smile when her eyes focused on him.

"Ben?" She mumbled. "What happened?"

Ben chuckled a little bit as he saw her smile up at him, "You fell off the speeder after you crashed it into a tree."

"Uh, are you sure that's correct?" She rose an eyebrow and got up, dusting her pants off. "I seem to remember you driving us into a tree."

"Oh, that's debatable. Come on, let's go." Ben watched as Rey paused and looked around.

"Wait? Where is it?"

"What? Where's what?"

Rey looked at Ben like he was crazy, "Uh—there was a sword. It was right here. I tried to grab it, but I couldn't—"

"Do you have a concussion? Please don't have a concussion,"

"Please, Ben. I don't have a concussion. It was here, I saw—"

"Well, there's nothing there. So come on, let's go. This place gives me the creeps."

"Right. You're right,"

"Of course, I am," There was something going on with Rey. Ben couldn't help but be concerned as they went back to the speeder, but there was nothing that he could do about it right now. He just needed to get them back to the First Order.

Rose hated being cooped up in her room. Granted, she knew that she had it better than other teenagers in the Rebellion, having a large room with a terrace that showed her the rest of the kingdom, but still. She found herself pacing and thinking about the last fight that had with her mother. Amilyn had a habit of just grounding her whenever she didn't act exactly the way that her mother wanted. She wished that she would see her as someone who could help the Rebellion and her people. That was all that she wanted to do after all. She kept pacing when an arrow whizzed right past her and she yelped.

On the arrow was a small note in a compartment that dropped onto the floor. She picked it up.

Hi! 3 – Jannah

Rose teleported out to the terrace and looked down past the small moat that separated her and Jannah. Jannah was her best friend in the whole world and possibly the only person that could tolerate her for as long as she did. Rose was also tragically and hopelessly in love with her, but of course, she would never say anything about that. Ever. "Hey, watch it!" She hissed, trying not to alert the guards. "You almost hit me!"

"Hey, Rose!" If it were any other time, Rose would giggle.

"Ssh!" She hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"What did you say?"

"I can't, I'm grounded." She tried to get a little louder.

"I can't hear you. Come down here,"

"I can't, I'm grounded."

"What?" This progression of noise really wasn't helping.

"I'm grounded,"

Jannah grinned, and then Rose was pretty sure she knew exactly what she was doing at this point. "I'm grounded,"

"What?"

She sighed, teleporting right next to Jannah and grabbing her arm. "I'm grounded." She teleported again back to her room with Jannah. "Ugh,"

"You're grounded?"

"Yes! I'm so mad at my mom right now,"

"Is this about the siege at Bespin?"

"Ugh, yes! I was just trying to defend another one our villages from falling into The Order's grasp. She stationed me all the way out here because it's too remote to ever get attacked, but then it did, and it was my one chance to prove that I can do this. But she acts like I can't do anything because I'm just a princess." She felt like she was about to tear her hair out. The more she kept thinking about it, the more that she wished her mother would just let her be a commander.

"That doesn't make any sense. Everyone here is a princess. I'm, like, the only one who's not a princess."

"Tell that to my mom," Jannah sat down on a chair and grabbed Rose's hand, she tried not to blush as Jannah guided her over to a chair opposite of her.

"I'm sorry Rose, but your mom might have a point. The only reason you got out of there is because of your teleportation powers, and, let's face it, they don't always work that well."

"That's not exactly what I want to hear right now, Jannah."

"I'm just saying, if you wanna prove yourself, it's gonna take more than running recklessly into any old battle. Luckily, I've got just the thing. Check this out. I detected a piece of First Ones tech in the Whispering Woods. A pretty powerful one, too, by the size of these readings. If you find this one and bring it back, your mom is bound to be impressed."

"Did you forget I'm grounded?"

"Rose? Are you in there?"

"Uh," Rose teleported Jannah back across the moat and went back into her room.

"Rose?"

Rose cracked open the door and gave her best reassuring smile to her mother. "Everything's fine, mom."

"Is there anyone else in there? I heard voices." Great.

"No one else is here, can you please just leave me alone right now? Thanks,"

"I don't like your tone, young lady."

"What tone? Since when do I have a tone?" She was going to get a migraine.

"That attitude of yours isn't helping,"

"Mom—"

"I don't know why you continue to act—"

"That's not—ugh." She slammed the door and waited for her mother to walk away in a huff of anger before she teleported back to Jannah. "I'm in."

Sometimes Rey dreamed of war. She always knew that she was dreaming in these, because it was always the same, and eventually her brain got used to it.

Her dreams were always here. Everything was so cold. She could hear people screaming, and off in the distance a baby crying. Rey stood alone in a field of grass that was so tall she could barely see above it, her stomach felt sick and she felt like she was about to have a panic attack.

There was a baby crying.

She ran towards it, trying to locate the sounds. Something told her that she needed to find the child that was crying. She wanted so desperately to help them, to help ease their pain. Rey felt her muscles getting more and more sluggish as she ran, trying to call out to find out where the child was.

It was like the noise was all around her, leading her every direction and driving her crazy. Rey stopped, out of breath, finally collapsing onto the ground, and staring straight up at the sky. There was something that she had never seen before.

"Are those—stars?"

There was something very wrong with Rey. She could feel it in her bones. She kept thinking about the sword that she saw in the Whispering Woods. Kept thinking about everything that the First Order had told her about how awful and scary they were supposed to be, how magic was supposed to be this cruel and corrupting thing that the world needed to be liberated of. Rey didn't feel like she was surrounded by something that cruel when she had gone into the Whispering Woods. Yes, the size was intimidating but she didn't feel like the woods would swallow her whole like the First Order always told her that it would.

What was worse was that she kept having these dreams, she didn't know how to describe them, but they felt like something that was so familiar to her. There was a long corridor. A woman was talking to her. A baby cried. She heard someone call to her. She saw the sword again and then she woke up in a cold sweat, sometimes her sheets were tangled around her, other times they were not. She always tried her best not to wake Ben who would sometimes wait until everyone else was asleep to sneak from his bed and into hers. That was harder than it looked. She struggled to try and get some sleep for about five hours before she decided that she couldn't do it. She waited until everyone else was asleep before she snuck out of the barracks as quick as she could. Luckily, Ben wasn't there for her to worry about when she snuck out.

That didn't mean that he wouldn't be a problem though. She made it down two hallways before Ben stepped out of nowhere, "Rey? Where are you going?"

She had to prevent herself from jumping out of her skin. She wished that she wasn't so jumpy, because it was so always so obvious when she was up to something. And of course, it was always so easy for Ben to read her. "Back to the woods, I uh, there's something that I need to figure out."

"What? You're—" His tail went straight as he pulled her to the side as some higher up soldiers past them. Luckily, they didn't notice that the two of them had been standing in the hallway. When everyone was gone, Ben laid into her as quietly as he could. "You're not actually serious, are you? Are you sure that you didn't hit your head when you were back there? Because you've been acting weird ever since we got back."

"Look Ben, I know I saw something out there." She could see the skeptical look on his face. Something was still telling him that she was acting insane, or maybe he was worried. Rey wasn't sure. "It's ju- I just need to get another look. It feels important somehow."

He paused for a second, staring at her. Then something happened, something that Rey didn't expect. His gaze softened and he said, "Sounds good. Let's go."

"Ben, no. I don't want you getting in trouble on my behalf." And he would. Asaji Ventress seemed to have it out for Ben, and Rey had always been the one to look out for him when no one else would. She wasn't going to stop that now. "You just stay here, okay? Please. Just cover for me, everything will be okay. I promise," She gave him a short hug before turning and running down the hallway. Hearing Ben whisper her name the entire time.

Rose knew that there was something in these woods, she could feel it. But wandering around with Jannah and faulty tracker pad to find technology that might not even exist was—not her greatest move. She was starting to get nervous, "Come on, Rose." Jannah said. It seemed like the tracker pad was starting to mess up, and even though Rose loved walking for hours anywhere alone with Jannah, she couldn't help the anxiety gnawing at her.

"Ugh, are we getting lost?"

Jannah was staring at the tracker pad, and Rose couldn't help but smile staring at her. But something else caught her eye. "No, this thing is just acting up. Looks like it's being overloaded by the tech's signal. We must be getting close!"

"Uhh... I think it's that way."

Jannah raised an eyebrow, "Really? What makes you say that?" Rose pointed to the incandescent blue light glowing over her shoulder. "Oh, yeah. That'll do it." The two of the pushed past the bush that was blocking them from the view of whatever was making that light, and right into the same path as a First Order soldier.

Rey couldn't help but wonder if she had gone batshit insane. She was pretty sure at this point that she had. "What the hell are you doing out here?" She muttered to herself. She thought about Ben, and the concerned look that he had given her right before she had basically run away from him. She wondered if he would still look at her that way when she got back to the First Order.

'If you go back to the First Order,' She tried to shake off that line of thinking. Of course she was going back to the First Order. She was a Force Captain now, she had responsibilities.

She had Ben.

Rey wasn't thinking when she stumbled upon a glowing light that seemed so familiar, she didn't look to see if there was anyone around her, ready to strike if she had just so happened to get the sword. She walked right into the clearing and stumbled upon a princess and a soldier from the Bright Moon Rebellion.

All three of them stared at each other for a second, gasping when they made eye contact. "It's a FO soldier!"

"I see her!" A girl with a bow and arrow yelled. Rey rolled to the side right before she could be shot with an arrow, glad that she had at least brought her staff with her, she got close enough to get her off her feet before the princess teleported behind her and started pulling at her. Rey grunted, jabbing her elbow into the princess's side and managing to get free when the princess teleported to the sword and grabbed it, throwing it to the other girl.

"Give me the sword." Rey said, running towards the girl with the bow. The princess was on her back again and Rey was starting to get a little tired. She managed to knock her off. "Stand down, I don't want to hurt you. Just give me the sword," She wished that the two of them would just stop attacking.

"Since when does a First Order soldier not want to hurt anyone?"

"What?"

The fighting turned into something around the lines of a catfight, everyone wrestling to get what they wanted. The princess was pulling on her hair and Rey was trying to reach behind the other girl's arm to get to the sword. Rey managed to get a slight grip on the sword for a second, and then the scene changed.

The woman that Rey kept seeing was still far away. Rey couldn't make any of her features, but she could hear her voice even clearer than she had before. "Hello, Rey." The voice sounded so familiar. She wanted to say that she knew who it was, but she didn't.

"Who are you?" It was something that she had wanted to ask. She was so confused. She didn't know what was going on. "What's happening?"

"My name is Bastila Shan, I have been waiting a long time for you, but I couldn't reach you until you touched the sword."

"You sent the sword,"

"The sword is meant for you. Coruscant has need of you, Rey. Will you answer its call? Will you fight for the honor of Theia?"

Rey didn't know what to say. She didn't know anything that was happening. Maybe she did hit her head. Maybe she was going insane. "What are you talking about? What is- What's Theia? You're not making any sense! I don't understand!"

"You will." The woman said, and then everything flickered. Rey found herself shouting to wait as everything disintegrated around her again.

"Wait!"

Rey groaned, realizing that she had been hit on the head a minute ago. Her vision was coming back to her. "She's awake!" The girl with the bow exclaimed.

"Uh, what happened?"

"Quiet, First Order scum. I ask the questions. How did you make it this far into the Whispering Woods? Are you a spy?"

The longer that she stayed here with the two of them, the less intimidating the princess became. Rey started wondering if the First Order was exaggerating by a longshot when they were telling her that princesses were dangerous. No, they wouldn't lie about that. Right? "I just walked in," Rey shrugged. "And I'm not a spy."

"Right. You just so happened to find yourself in the Whispering Woods, like you just so happened to try and steal our sword."

Rey's head was pounding too much to be able to deal with this. At this point, she really just wanted to go home. "It's not yours. Have you never heard of finders, keepers, before?"

The princess turned to the other girl and she shrugged, "I mean I guess she does sort of have a point."

"Oh my god, Jannah. No she doesn't." Jannah just snickered a little as the princess turned back towards Rey, "The Whispering Woods is under the Rebellion's protection. You were lucky to make it as far as you did. Come on, Jannah. Let's get this spy back to Bright Moon where she can be interrogated properly. This is perfect. Not only do we First Ones tech for the rebellion, we've also captured a spy from the First Order. My mom's gonna be so impressed. Now come on, on your feet."

Rey was forced to her feet and started to walk. She wondered how long all three of them had been walking in silence, the princess carrying the sword, when Jannah asked, "Are you sure that we're going the right way, Rose?"

"I know what I'm doing, Jannah. Just trust me," She was staring intensely at a tracker pad that looked like it was several models outdated. Rey couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Jannah sighed, "You know I always trust you, but I'm starting to get a little freaked out." Rey wondered what kind of soldiers these people were, admitting that they were feeling uneasy in front of an enemy. That didn't seem like the smartest move, "I mean, I pretty much grew up in these woods and I've never even seen this part of them. I've heard stories about weird stuff out here."

"It's fine, okay? Just let me figure this out."

"Okay! Touchy. Sorry about her. Usually she's really nice." Jannah was acting really giddy for talking to someone that was supposed to be her captor, "Not much for talking?"

"I prefer not to swap pleasantries with my captors." Rey sighed.

"Fair." She shrugged.

Rey paused a little, thinking before she continued. "You know she's a princess, right? How can you follow her? Princesses are a dangerous threat to everyone on Coruscant."

"Is that what Snoke told you?"

"Well I thought it was just common knowledge." Rey shrugged. Who didn't know that the princesses were dangerous? Surely, everyone knew that. Right? "They're violent instigators who don't even know how to control their powers." Rose was shouting and acting erratic, teleporting all over the place.

"You've never actually met a princess, have you?" Jannah paused; Rey didn't really know what to think about her expression, so she looked away from her.

"Well, not actually but—" Rey huffed, but was cut off by Rose making a distressed noise not far off. Jannah and her walked faster to catch up to her and see what was going on.

Rey paused. What stood before her was the ruins of a temple that looked like it had once been vibrant and full of life. Ancient markers and mezzanines were now crumpled to nothing but rubble. There was a fine layer of ash in the air that felt like it had been there for a very long time as the three of them breathed it in. Rey coughed before taking in everything around her and asked, "What happened to this place?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I bet you were part of the raiding party that did this."

"What? No," Rey took a step backwards in disbelief, Jannah still holding her arms to make sure that she wouldn't escape. "What are you talking about? The Order didn't do this."

"Stop it! Stop playing dumb!"

"I'm not playing dumb,"

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Oh yeah? You're a heartless destroyer, just like all the rest of your people."

"I'm not a destroyer. Snoke says we're doing what's best for Coruscant. We're trying to make things better. More orderly."

"This is what's best for Coruscant? Ever since The Order got here, they've been poisoning our land, burning our cities, destroying everything in their path. And you're a part of it! How's that for orderly?" Rey felt like she was going to be sick. None of what she was saying was true, was it? It couldn't be true.

"This doesn't make any sense. The First Order would never do something like this."

"Did you really not know any of this? I mean, your army is called the Evil Horde, The Scum of Coruscant, etcetera."

"Really? Who calls us that?"

Jannah stared at her incredulously for a second, "Uh—everybody."

Rey shook her head, "This can't be happening. The First Order rescued me when I was a baby and gave me a home. They're my family. You- you don't know them like I do."

"Maybe you don't know them like you think you do."

Rey felt like she was going to vomit, but things didn't stop getting worse from there.

Ben waited for Rey.

He kept waiting for her, pacing back and forth when no one was looking wondering just exactly where she had gone. This was the longest that either of them had been apart from each other, and he wasn't sure that he was handling it very well. He kept wondering just what was so important that she had to go out into the woods by herself.

That was suicidal in a way that Rey had never been suicidal before.

"Hey Ben," Finn said as he passed the corridor that Ben was hiding out in, "Do you know where Rey is?"

"If I did do you think that I would be lounging out in this hallway alone?" He snapped.

"O-kay, touchy. Asaji Ventress was just looking for her so that she could inform her of when the next debriefing is. That's all,"

"I think she just went out to get some fresh air," Ben shrugged, not looking Finn in the eye. "I'll tell her when she gets back though. Thanks."

"Okay," Finn smiled and said, "you know you don't always have to hang out by yourself when Rey's not around. We like you too," Ben stayed there in the corridor, away from Finn and knowing that he would have to go interact with others if he went with him.

He wasn't exactly in the headspace to do that right now. Finn shrugged, evidently tired of trying. Ben didn't blame him. When he had walked away, he kept pacing, wondering if he should go out and look for Rey. She should be back by now, shouldn't she?

Ben had a bad feeling about this.

Rey had a bad feeling about everything going on around her. There was an energy in the air that she could almost taste. Her adrenaline pumping harder than it had before, and Rose yelped again. Rey and Jannah both gave each other a look when Rose shouted, "There's something out there. Something big."

Both Rey and Jannah gulped at the same time, Rey was starting to really wish that she didn't have her arms tied up right now. "How big?" The both of them asked. Rose didn't have a chance to answer before the ground started rumbling.

"So—really big." Rose dropped the sword in the scrambling and Rey found herself staring at a very large, very ugly looking creature. She wasn't sure how to describe it, there weren't any magical living creatures in the First Order, so she had nothing to compare it. But its eyes were huge, and there was definitely more than two. It screeched and Rey was filled with this fear that she had never felt before. She dove out the way right as it's tail swept through the clearing and split up all three of them.

If she was being practical, she could make a run for it and forget the sword altogether. But they were both in trouble right now, and even though she wasn't on their side, she would feel bad about leaving anyone for dead. Rey dove for the sword and cut her restraints, grasping the sword in her hands, "Hey, stupid!" She wasn't sure what else to yell at it. "Come on, magic sword." It was coming right for her. Something had to happen. "Where's a blinding flash of light when you need one?" It was just then when she felt it.

Clarity.

A voice asked her if she would fight for the Honor of Theia, and that's when Rey said yes. Yes, she would.

"For the honor of Theia!"