Author's Note:

Okay, I promise I'm going to see this story through to the end! I promise! I know it started off as a desperately writer blocked 1 shot but goshdangit do I just really love this story, so I do solemnly swear I will give it a proper storyline. Sworn. I'm thinking something like 25 chapters maybe. I don't really have an outline, shit, but I have an idea where we're heading and we're not at the halfway mark yet. No matter what though, i will give this story enough chapters to come to some sort of resolution. Pinky swear!

The mermaid hunt was a bloodbath.

Kylo had expected nothing less, but he was still surprised by the sheer ferocity of the merfolk's counter assault. All of his men were with him along the now blood-streaked beach. Thirteen in total, Kylo and his Knights of Ren. A battle force powerful enough to fill the hearts of any enemy with crippling fear, but not the merfolk. Not now. He had never seen them like this. So wild and out of control.

"Silas, come with me! The rest of you stick close to each other. Don't let them separate you."

Together he and the fastest, most agile of his Knights break away from the main battle line. The mermaids had taken to strategy, apparently discerning that their enemies were out for blood and the best way to ensure it wasn't their own that was spilled was to lead them away from the safety of land.

Silas races past him, leaping from one half submerged boulder to the next with a dexterity Kylo couldn't help but be envious of. Behind him a fresh volley of arrows, courtesy of the twin archers, churned the waters to clear a path for them.

Kylo catches a flicker of scales glinting in the evening sun from the side of where he's currently trudging waist deep. It's a bold move from the mermaid, trying to tempt him to a place where he could still easily fight with only minor challenge.

"Faster!" he orders Silas, ignoring the bait.

A wave pushes him, nearly knocking him from his footing. Kylo swings his saber, letting the Force guide it straight to and then through the second mermaid who had been sneaking up behind him while its partner tried to distract.

A howl comes from the side, and Kylo leaps out of the deepest part of the crossing just as the waters start to churn with furious movement.

They were begin chased by three of them now. Maybe four or perhaps even five. He could see shadows of their shapes thrashing about the waters below his feet as he climbs up on the swinging and half-rotten rope bridge that spans the furthest most point of the beach with the abandoned breaker.

"There's two more here at least!"

Silas shouts it back to him. He had already crossed over and Kylo can see that gods they really were surrounded now. A fresh wave of shouting echoes out from the shore. His Knights are slashing and hacking their way through their own battlefront. Aemon leading, Ria shortly behind him, and the twins high above. Further along at the far side of the beach was Taleisin and the rest were fighting their own assault. Three merfolk bodies were already piled on the wagon, ready to be rode with through the town to appease the bloodthirsty demands for vengeance from the villagers.

"In my four years with the Knights I have never seen them like this," Silas says. "Never seen any enemy so determined to chase us no matter what the cost to their own."

Kylo nods, agreeing silently with him. They had all gone into this hunt today expecting a challenge. What they received was frenzy.

A loud cry rings out and Kylo spins, readying himself. It was from Ria. He saw her for just a second as she was dragged into the water, but she was too far away to be helped. Aemon dives right in after her, and Kylo holds his breath as he watches from his distance, trying to focus the Force around them to give them strength.

A gloved hand sticks out of the water, carrying the severed head up proudly before the rest of Ria is seen slogging out of the surf. Behind her Aemon stumbles, dragged down by his heavier armor. He turns to Kylo holding up the rest of the body before he tosses it onto the shore to be collected later.

Silas snorts, mirroring Kylo's headshake of disapproval.

"Careless of her to get dragged down," he comments. "But they got it done. They got the kill."

There was an undertone of jealously to his words that Kylo had expected. Just because the Knights were a band of brothers didn't mean that hot spirited competition didn't flare up during the throes of battle.

Kylo slides the faceplate of his helmet back down, hiding his smirking face from view.

"Sounds like they're showing us up then, Brother. Let's not stand for that."

Silas was the second youngest, just a few month older than Taleisin. He was never one to turn down a dare, and he spins almost faster than Kylo can see as he races down the rocky slopes of the breaker.

This rocky construct had been built by the villagers long ago. It's first use had been to stop the steep walls of sea ice that formed during winter from being swept into the hire, destroying every docked ship in its path. Later it had served as an essential lookout point during the war with the Winterton Hold. Since then, before the sudden surge in merfolk assault, it had been relegated to a risky fishing jetty used only by the bravest of fishermen.

The breaker was a treacherous place in good weather. Now, cold, windswept, and filling with evening mist, it made for a hellish spot to try and fight such a dangerous enemy. But it was also one of the few location they could go out into the deeper waters while still staying mostly on land.

"Keep a watchful eye," Kylo warns, "we're out of sight from the others. We're on our own now."

Quickly but carefully and deliberately they head further out. There was a submerged pier here that, when the tides would allow, would be dry and out of the water. Now Kylo and his Knight had to cross knee-deep to the small stone platform that signaled the northernmost tip of the island.

Behind them the sounds of fighting continue on, muffled and reflected by the central heap of the breaker. Kylo would know if any of his Knights were struck down, but he trusted them in their abilities. It was he and Silas that were taking the greatest risk, but also the greatest opportunity to end their hunt swiftly.

"There!" Silas shouts, pointing at a ripple seen just behind a cresting wave.

It was moving toward them. Unlike on the beach, the merfolk here had ample space to attack. It was only those with legs that were at a disadvantage. He and Silas instinctively move back to back, turning slowly in a circle to watch all sides of them.

"If they all come at us-" Silas starts to say.

"We will not lose focus. Listen to the Force. It will guide us to victory."

Another wave crests. A darker shape. A flicker of light where there shouldn't be.

Two mermaids leap out together, surging forward in a frenzy of limbs, scales, and teeth.

Kylo closes his eyes, spins, and feels his sweeping saber cut through their flesh. Silas is thrown back against him. Two more mermaids are on him, one wrestling in his grip and the other pulling at his legs.

Kylo stabs the lower clean through like she was on a spit. Silas cuts the higher clean in half, using the Force to hurl the remains onto the rocks where they can get them later.

"Two down," his Knight says, his voice breathless but almost merry. "No, three down. Finish her off quick and let's push further out."

Kylo grimaces. His kill hadn't been clean. The mermaid was choking on her own blood, his saber still pierced through her thrashing body.

He pushes against her shoulders, using his boot as leverage to slide his blade free. The dying creature looks up at him then, her face contorted in a pained snarl of pure rage. Another stab and he finishes her, putting her out of her misery. In that last second before her life leaves her eyes she looks up at him again, her face slackening. For a second, just one second, she looks like someone else.

And then a tail whips at the back of his legs, knocking him clean off his feet with all of the strength of a Rawl.

Stupidly Kylo cries out, his lungs filling with water. Limbs are all around him, his gloved hands punching at against hard scales as he gets dragged down deeper and deeper. The surface grows dimmer, stretching further away as he gets pulled into the depths. A razor sharp row of teeth sink into the leather of his arm guards. After the last fight Kylo had doubled up on his armor. It protected his neck from being torn out, but it made him sink like a stone, his limbs heavier and slower to fight back.

Feral hands claw at his face, nails scratching at his skin in an effort to tear out his eyes. Kylo headbutts the mermaid in front of him, gaining himself enough room to stab pout blindly into the now nearly pitch black waters.

A yank of the Force stops his descent. Silas must have seen his leader fall is trying to drag him out. Another stab and his blade strikes something that gives. This deep down he can't hear the scream but he can feel the pain of his victim. It makes the others on his even angrier. A stronger tug and Kylo grits his teeth as he kicks forward, the upper front plate of his armor being wrenched half off him.

He can see them now. They're near the surface and there are three of them. It would have been four except the one he'd stabbed has fled, denying him of the prize of displaying its flesh.

Water continues to fill his lungs, burning cold and signaling Kylo's own approaching death. He won't panic, though. He will follow his own words and keep focused.

Nails sharp as glass drag across his now unprotected chest, sending searing pain blooming in its path. That was a mistake on the mermaid's part. So desperate to hurt him that the creature didn't realize it was giving itself away.

Kylo stabs again, skewering her just as Silas's arms wrap around his shoulders and drags him up.

He's unceremoniously shoved against a rock. Kylo lands face first, nearly colliding with another dead mermaid aw he hauls his own latest kill up. This time he doesn't look her in her eyes as he cleaves her head clean off.

Silas breathlessly collapses next to him. He's bleeding heavily as well, his lighter armor proving far too ineffective against their enemies natural weapons.

"Are you-"

"Yes."

Kylo heaves himself over, collapsing back against the rock. His wounds are severe. Worse than before, and he was lucky the mermaids ad only gotten the top half of his chest plate off or they could have well been fatal.

"How many?"

He pushes himself first to his knees then to his feet with a pained huff, ignoring Silas's outstretched hand.

"I got two, you got one," his Knight tells him. "And the one from earlier. But forget that, what happened? I saw you leaning over her and then one of them just came out from nowhere. I couldn't get to you in time."

But you should have sensed her coming. Silas doesn't say that part out loud. He doesn't have to. Kylo's mistake had been worse than amateurish. It was sloppy. He and his Knights were never sloppy.

"She looked like a human."

It's the only answer he has. Kylo looks down at himself. He feels lightheaded, blood flowing freely from the heavy slashes torn across his chest. The solid rocks under his feet feel like their moving, and Silas draws nearer before he waves him away.

"Leader-"

"She looked like a human," he repeats. "One look. For just one moment. Too much like a bloody human."

Kylo turns then, struggling his way back to the beach along the higher points of the breaker this time. Behind him Silas falls silent, but he can feel the weight of his Knight's stare as they both limp back to the others.

The villagers had prepared a small feast in their honor.

Kylo had heard their cries and cheers of support as he and his men crossed over the hill to the edge of town. The Knights had returned, battered and bloody, but victorious. A far bigger celebration would be held tomorrow once there had time to prepare, but for now they had been met in the village circle with enthusiastic fanfare, a small bonfire, and a table full of food and wine.

"This is the best I can do for you tonight, Leader. Tomorrow, in the morning once I have rested, I will heal you again."

Kylo nods, dismissing Taleisin from the rear room of healing hut. His own wounds had been the worst, though both Ria and Rowan, the longswordsman of the other half of his Knights, had their own pressing injuries to be handled as well. Taleisin was a skilled healer, but he was already exhausted from battle and there were limits to how far his powers could stretch over man.

For Kylo's part, he was half-healed and bandaged. A salve, rest, and the ghost of a chance at a good night's sleep would have to do him until morning. The village tailor had fresh clean clothes prepared at the ready of the Knights, and Kylo had chosen a high necked overshirt that would conceal the full extent of his injuries.

The wound on his face was unsightly, but not a serious offense. He only hoped that his guest at home would feel the same way.

"Leader! Join us! Put your feet up and share a pint."

Aemon kicked a chair backwards, pushing it out of Kylo to sit next to him. Judging by the swarthy color on his second in command's cheeks, he was more than a few pints down into the festivities already. Nor was he hardly alone, with both Rowan and the twins boisterously laughing and drinking with far more energy than such a day would normally leave them.

"Just for an hour, Aemon. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight, not on the dirty floor under a table with the rest of you."

He says it in jest, but already he can feel ripples of resistance to his plan come from a still stone-sober Ria. Kylo sits down quickly, hiding the fresh wave of pain that his still raw injuries bring with the movement.

"You have a long ride back, Leader. You should stay here. We'll have the innkeeper kick out whoever's staying in his back rooms. Get an early start with our plans tomorrow morning."

He frowns at Ria, then again at Taleisin who turns in his chair and leans closer in. Neither of them would touch alcohol, and their disapproval was written clear over both their faces.

"I won't be questioned," Kylo answers, picking up his tankard. "Besides, no one except the three of us will be up early tomorrow and you well know it."

The ale is good. Strong, but good. A platter laden high with mean, grains, and root vegetables is placed in front of him by a young and pretty serving girl who spends far too long leaning over and filling up his glass to the top. He waves her aside and she pouts but shimmies away, now approaching the greatly enthusiast twins.

Ria clears her throat, watching the display with a tired expression that's countered by Taleisin's slight smirk of amusement.

"Perhaps you are right, my Leader," she says. "But I have been watching you. You have not been yourself."

"You've been distracted," Taleisin agrees. "You've been making mistakes that you shouldn't have. Mistakes you've never made before."

Kylo frowns, but Ria leans in close, not letting him get away.

"Leader, you've been keeping secrets from us."

He meets her suspicious glare head on, and it's only a few moments before his subordinate submits and tips her head, dropping her gaze.

"Sir-"

"Ria." He pulls back, tipping his head to the side to frown at the other Knight behind her. "Taleisin. I understand your concern. I agree with it. I will do better but, and hear me well, you will not question me."

For a moment he senses they both want to argue. He may be their leader, but that doesn't mean they aren't allowed to speak up. Not tonight, though. Not until Kylo has rested, recovered, and prepared himself for this confrontation.

"Am I missing something?"

Aemon, perhaps not as intoxicated as he outwardly appears, butts his head into the conversation. All around him the rest of the Knights are in full carousing, but his second must not have been so clueless to the sudden tension that had gripped three of his brothers.

A tension that is abruptly interrupted by a shrill cry of high pitched, feminine laughter. One of the twins have the serving girl over his knee while his brother… well he's either playing her buttocks through her skirt like a drum set or helping her rid herself of a very cheeky spider.

"Gods," Ria mutters, falling back into her seat.

"Do they look like two people who will catch the dawn wakeup call?" Kylo asks, reachign over to snag her untouched tank of ale for himself.

She mouths the word 'no', closing her eyes and looking for all the world as tired as Kylo himself feels.

Another shriek of mirth, and Balen, the taller and minutes older of the twins, stands up to wobblishly throw the girl over his shoulder. She hoots and hollers, her hands merrily taking their own turn on the man's backside as he carries her off. Gareth, his twin, follows close by, his bent arms spilling over with tanks of ale he's carrying for the rest of their festivities.

Next to him Aemon snorts, taking his leader's cue and motioning for Taleisin to hand over his tankard to him as well.

"I never quite get used to seeing that," he admits with a laugh. "To seeing two brothers so happily share a woman together. Do you suppose they have her at the same time, or do they politely take their turns?"

Kylo has no answer for that, and he finishes his drink in one long go before another nearly magically appears in front of him. Truly the villagers must be grateful, though he quickly dismisses the next servant girl and signals his three most sober Knights to move close so he can speak quietly.

"The merfolk," he begins, "the way they were today was wrong. They fought us like they didn't care what it cost them, but they had nothing to gain but spill our blood. It was like they were possessed."

Ria's face grows grave.

"I sensed a great disturbance in the Force from them," she says. "Something like never before."

"Aye, like never before," Aemon agrees. "They knew we were hunting them and they didn't even try to flee. They met us head on."

Taleisin nods, signaling his solidarity with his brother's concerns.

"I fear this, whatever it is, will only grow worse.," he says. "We must find the cause and soon."

Kylo brings the tankard to his lips but then pauses. Across the long table from them is a pie with a pattern in the shape of a fish decorating it's crust. He clears his throat, playing off his momentary distraction as a result of the ale.

"Maz then? The old wise woman? Has anyone spoken to her yet?"

Taleisin shakes his head.

"I went to her this morning, but her servant said she's gone off into the hills to search for herbs. Perhaps Ria should go to find her? I don't know if she'll be able to help, but she doesn't like men. Ria or Mayenne would be better."

Mayenne was the other female Knight. She had started with the group during the early part of the celebration but Kylo doesn't see where she's gone since then. Neither she nor, interestingly, Rowan.

"Maz likes men fair enough," Ria counters, "they just have to be the right man. Not some brute who kicks down her door and demands she look at his bum because he fell on it after being too drunk to

stay on his horse and Taleisin would have none of his complaint."

Despite everything Kylo laughs at that. Behind him he can hear Aemon grumble. Something sulky about how 'it's happened to us all and he's gonna go take a piss if you're just going to talk about him like he's not here.' He stands then, the whole table shaking as he leans on it to steady himself.

"There's always the Island, Leader," he says before he pushes off to make good on his promise. "It may come to that. It may well come to that."

Both Taleisin and Ria fall silent. The Island. The Ilha Dos Sabios. The Island of the Wise Men. It was a place known by many names, but none of them mattered. All that did was that it was far away, nearly impossible to find, and Kylo and his Knights were as unwelcome there as it was dangerous. It was also one of the only places where the Old Masters might still be found. If Maz couldn't provide the answers they needed…

"Maz first," Kylo finally says. "We will try her. If she has nothing for us, then… then we will decide. It's a hard call. We leave for the Ilha and we leave the village unguarded. Half of us go and half of us stay, and we're only half as strong."

And already all together they were having trouble keeping back their enemies. It went beyond the scope of just the bloodthirst-frenzy mermaids, if the Winterton Hold heard of the village being half guarded old grudges could well rear their ugly heads again.

"Master?" Taleisin asks. "Should I go, or Ria to speak to Maz? I can leave as soon as dawn breaks, but you and the others will need more healing. I can go back with you to the tower tonight and, after I've had a few hours rest, I can-"

"No." Kylo dismisses him in an instant. "I will go back alone. Stay here, tend to the others, soothe their aching heads in the morning to revive them. Ria will go but, if you can't find her by mid-afternoon, come back. It's too dangerous for any of us to be out alone at night. Tomorrow evening we will meet here again for the celebration, and hopefully by then the way ahead will be clear to us."

Kylo stands before either of them can argue. He finishes off his drink before picking up his barely-touched plate and offering no explanation as to why. On his way as he returns to his horse he snatches the fish pie and tucks it close under his arm.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay! I've been so busy, I just started a new graphic design business in December and I've been transferring my website from one host to another and making a lot of covers and, yeah, it's been crazy.

But now I'm back! No Reylo this chapter, sorry! Next chapter though Kylo comes home and he has all these worries that he might have to leave his special lady behind to go to some island way off in nowhere. But at least he brought shnookums a fish pie again, right?

Comment replies:

lipwip – Haha, yeah, Kylo didn't know what to say about the severed head. He was raised with manners, though, and proper manners tell you to always thank your gift giver for their generosity no matter how… drippy their offering was. So Kylo was just being polite! And maybe a little terrified, that too, lol. thanks so much for commenting!

.Feathers – Aha! I had thought about Kira, actually! And I went through all kinds of different scenarios where Kylo found out her name, but I eventually decided on Rey being a woman of action and telling him herself. And I can't say about the chapter length other than I will try and update more often if I can. thank for commenting! This story doesn't get hardly any comments and each one means so much to me so really thank you!

Guest – I'm glad you're liking their slow progression! This is a slow burn, but it's also not in a way. They've gone from mortal enemies to cuddling hands and painting each other in just a few days time. And how could Rey resist Kylo's toes? He was even wiggling them at her! Kriffing temptress, that's what he was! Thanks for commenting!