author's note:

Back after taking a long break! This chapter's rather short but fun I think :) And it sets the ground for the next big events. I hope you all enjoy it and drop me a comment if you do!

Kylo's fanged hellbeast of bedmate woke him up with a bite to his right nipple.

His sudden, shocked grunt echoed hollowly against the wooden walls of the cabin. It took him a few moments to orientate himself, so enmeshed in a dream of dark mists and shadowy waters to remember exactly where he was.

Rey coos, bringing him back to the present. Her smirking lips are pursed in what Kylo assumes may be an apology. She runs a hand across his bared chest and he raises an eyebrow.

"Did you undress me in my sleep?"

That was a side effect of laying next to a being such as hers whose presence is so silent. She could be doing practically anything to him when he was unawares and vulnerable. For that, Kylo opts to count himself lucky that a rude bite and his shirt half opened are all he seems to have endured.

Rey giggles in answer and he sighs, shaking his head. Then she mounts him, throwing her legs to either side of him as she rests her little rump on his thankfully still-clothed crotch.

She's naked, of course, though Kylo hadn't paid attention to that fact until she starts to bounce.

"M'Lady!" His choked voice is a side effect of bulging eyes. "No no, M'Lady, we can't! We absolutely musn't!"

It was still early yet, judging by the tint to the light coming from his window. Likely most of the other Knights were still sleeping. It would be most unseemly for their leader and his guest to give them a rude awakening.

Rey tips her head to one side as she looks down at him. Her lips move, mouthing shapes though no sound comes out.

Then her hands resume stroking his chest and she begins to hum. It's a quick and odd tune that momentarily gives Kylo pause.

Ah. That's right. Their last night in the village. Someone had been singing this old sailor's shanty and Rey must have been listening more intently than he'd realized. She mimics the tune almost exactly, matching it with light, lilting sounds rather than the true words.

Kylo sighs when his shirt is opened. He sits up, or tries to, but she adjust her position on top of him to grind herself against his growing interest.

It's not as if her offer isn't without temptation. Acutely so. But he really can't. To keep his Knights out of his thoughts requires keen focus, and few things could b more distracting than having his mermaid under him. Or over him, as the case may be.

"Rey. Get up. Let's have breakfast."

He tries to project an image of a heaping platter of food into her mind. Anything to distract her. Rey smirks again, her eyes growing darker as she looks down at him pinned under her. It appears that his attempts to make her hungry might have backfired.

Rey shimmies down him then, scooting herself lower along his legs as her hands begin to tug at his waistband.

"No."

His voice catches as he says it. He takes her hands, twining his fingers with her own. She pauses then tries to reach for him again and he holds her wrists.

Ah, now she gets it. No to that. She's figured out what he's been trying to tell her. Rey growls, clearly extremely displeased at being denied.

"Shhh," he lets go of one hand to place his finger over her lips. "M'Lady, we must not make noise. Let's get up and have a hearty meal and go about our day."

Rey's eyes narrow. It seems… that would have been too easy, wouldn't it? Her growl grows and Kylo shushes her again as she squirms.

She wrenches her other hand free and slaps his chest. Then she leans back, resting her weight on one arm behind her near the foot of the bed. Kylo watches helplessly as she licks her fingers, her angry pout never leaving her, and thrusts her hand between her spread thighs to rub herself lewdly on top of him.

"M'Lady!" he cries out, far louder than he should have. Which of his Knights were in the cabins next to him? He can't recall.

Her scowl grows, clearly annoyed with him, and her movements on herself only increase. Kylo gapes, his body reacting strongly despite the shock of her brazenness racing through him.

Then it hits him all at once. He can't feel her. Not her mind. Of course he can't. Kylo can't sense her as she- as she pleasures herself- and that means that the other Knights can't either.

Kylo reaches out to steady her hand. He doesn't stop her though, and Rey blinks as she slows her alarmingly rapid pace. For a moment they simply look at each other. He swallows, his eyes tracing the perfect lines of her readily offered body.

He… he could… he could touch her. Not himself. Not let her touch him. But since her mind is a fortress of silence, if he can manage to keep her growls and other sounds down, then perhaps there is a solution to this conundrum.

Kylo can safely say that he's never once given a thought to how his fellow Knights alleviate themselves until this moment. Because why would he? But he assumes they must, at least some of them with apparently high libidos such as the twins. But he's never hard them or sensed such behavior.

So full on lovemaking was off the table, but perhaps-

Rey growls, her impatience at his silent inner monologue apparent as she rolls her eyes and slaps his hand away and resumes her work on herself.

Kylo immediately flips them, laying himself on top of her instead of the other way around. Rey's squeak is silenced with his kiss and she sighs into his mouth. For the strangest moment Kylo almost feels guilty, as if he had been neglecting his lady's so apparent needs. Which was ridiculous considering their last joining had been just one dawn ago and no longer.

When he pulls away, Rey grins. She's breathless but clearly very keen, her little hands already snaking their way down between their bodies to begin her attempts at opening his sleeping pants.

He pushes her hands back and tips her chin up. A kiss to her neck and she moans too loud. Kylo pulls back to shush her again, trying to project the concept of silence as he places his forefinger against her lips. She nips him but settles down, now emitting only soft sounds of pleasure as he begins to kiss his way down her body.

When he gets to her stomach she moans again, kicking out and knocking the book he'd been reading before bed. It flies off the table with an audible thunk. Another shush earns him another eye roll, but Rey really seems to be trying to keep quiet. That, combined with the early hour, hopefully will let them both get away with this indulgence.

Throughout all of his lip's exploration, Kylo keeps an iron hold on his own emotions. His mental barriers are strong and all encompassing, his focus unwavering even if certain parts of him can't be stopped in their reactions to what he's doing to the perfect being writhing underneath him.

Stay focused. He must stay focused. Concentrate on the squirming task literally at hand.

Rey needs no guidance with wriggling herself into the right position. She throws her legs over his shoulders with abandon, one of her small hands sinking its fingers deep into his hair to hold him in place. Pity she couldn't be this cooperative about anything else.

If she as any objections to his uncertain and hesitant oral technique she doesn't show it. Her hand in his hair guides him, tugging him slightly up or down or to one side or another or whatever pleases her best at each given second. It's not long before she's doing more ha half of the work for him, and that prompts Kylo to add two fingers to the situation to even the balance.

Rey's next moan is so loud he has to pull away to shush her. Her grips remains, his scalp throbs in protest, and Rey smacks him upside the head again but presses her lips into a tight line of acceptance.

Then he gets back to work. He's getting better at his quickly, or so he thinks. Rey's reactions certainly seem to tell him he's doing plenty right. Her ankles are locked tight over his shoulders, her whole body rocking against his face and making Kylo quite grateful his bed is securely nailed into the wall.

Another whine comes from his mermaid and Kylo extracts the hand he'd been supporting her rump with from out under her. There's a second's worth of hesitation before he reaches it up and lightly wraps it around her mouth, both silencing her and giving her something to suck on. It wasn't so long ago that she was planning on eating his toes. Now her teeth skim and nibble at his fingers before a keen flick of his other wrist makes her bite down with a well-muffled grunt.

Mercifully, Kylo still has his hand and all its digits well-indented but still firmly intact when she finishes her peak. It takes her a few moments longer to come down enough, and this time Kylo helps her uncoil herself from around him. Rey tugs him into an embrace, her fingers now combing through his hair as he rests her head against her breast.

"I take it I did well, M'Lady?"

His voice is muffled by her rapidly rising and falling chest. Rey coos, one of her feet snaking itself around his leg. When he looks up there's a glint in her eyes he's seen before.

"Already? Again? Rey, you just-"

She presses her finger to his lips, this time shushing him.* His mermaid clearly doesn't seem to realize that… that what they just did was it. There was no other main event that he could allow, though he'd tried his inexperienced best to make it as satisfying for her as he could.

It takes much effort and persistence to pull her off him enough that Kylo can sit up.

"Breakfast," he insists.

Rey pouts when he stands. She reaches out, trying to snag his waistband, but Kylo immediately dodges. He dresses himself with military efficiency, not risking taking even a second's look at the highly amorous and put out mermaid still waiting naked on his bed for him.

"You don't have any clothes here."

She had come to him undressed last night. Again. At this rate she'll have discarded and lsot every item he'd bought for her before they reach the Western Station, let alone the Ilos.

"Here."

He pulls out his longest shirt. It will have to do for her escorted walk back to her own quarters before mealtime.

Rey doesn't make it easy on him, though. Because she never does. When it becomes clear that their morning session is indeed well and truly over she throws his pillow at him when he approaches, long black shirt in hand. Then she smacks at him, her hands a flurry of movement, when he tries to get her to stand. Finally she crosses her arms, glaring up at him with pure defiance in her eyes as he starts to drape the shirt across her shoulders.

"Rey, please." Cooperate. It's too early in the morning still and he hasn't had enough caf to deal with her obstinate nature.

Her glare slightly softens when he kisses her forehead, though she continues to struggle as he draws her arms out and begins to slide the sleeves over them. When he finally has her dressed as well as he's going to get her, Kylo gives her another kiss, this time properly to her lips. She bites him. Not hard, but not gently either.

Then she turns, spinning crisply away, and stomps out of his room.

By the time he has her in her own, proper clothes again Rey's growling stomach and his mental promises of food must have softened her irritation with him. Rey leads him to the dining room, clearly having already memorized the route to it through the labyrinthine tangle of small corridors that make up the ship's second level.

She bursts them into the room, holding his hand in her own and all but skipping as she drags him to the long table. Most though not all of the Knights are present, helping themselves to the reheated leftovers from last night that Gareth had spread out. More than a few curious gazes follow them as Kylo awkwardly shuffles, trying not to picture the absolutely unlikely pairing they must be making now.

"Good morning," Ria says crisply.

Rey snatches the offered bowl right out of her hands and growls in reply, earning her a raised eyebrow from the female Knight. Kylo shrugs by way of apology and Ria almost succeeds in masking her eye roll as a movement of her head.

"That's quite an appetite she's got there this morning, isn't it?"

Gareth watches Rey as she scoops the whole bowl into the soup pot and forgoes the ladle entirely. His comments brings a ripple of mixed discomfort and amusement from the rest of the Knigth, and Kylo clears his throat before serving himself a bowl in a more genteel fashion.

"Ria," he immediately changes the subject, "tell us about the route ahead. You planned it with Silas, didn't you?"

She nods, a frown drifting across her face as Rey next forgoes her spoon in favor of messily drinking the soup right from the bowl's edge. The last two Knights enter, Taleisin followed shortly be a rather grumpy looking Silas, and Ria begins to brief them all on the journey ahead. The first few days should be straight forward, then they'll have a potentially challenging crossing of rough current as they approach the Western Station. All of this will take place over the deep waters, but Ria believes it should be alright as long as they weather holds as predicted.

"Silas, you've been learning the weather from Aemon, correct? How has that been going?"

The youngest Knight stiffens visibly when Kylo addresses him. Odd. Enough so that the others notice, Ria elbowing him in his shoulder when he doesn't immediately answer.

"Well, Sir," he says, still avoiding his leader's gaze as he picks at the plate of food in front of him.

It's then that it dawns on Kylo. The cabin next to his was Silas's. Despite Kylo's best efforts to keep the early morning's events quiet, it seems he hadn't been as successful as he had hoped.

"Ria, continue," he says. "If were are to encounter a storm, what then?"

Attention draws back to Ria as she clears aside enough of the table to spread out a map and begin outlining the possible contingencies to their route. Silas continues to look anywhere but at Rey who has now placed herself on Kylo's lap and bounces her foot to whatever tune must be playing in her head.

Kylo takes this moment to contemplate the familiar faces in the room. This mission was a dangerous one. More so than perhaps Ria was fully letting on. There was a chance not all of his Knights would return to the Island. It was a grim thought, but if it was weighing on the other's minds at all it wasn't apparent. The twins seemed both sleepy and hungover, though Kylo knew for a fact they hadn't drunk too excessively last night despite their best attempts. Mayenne and Talesin both studied the map in front of them, though the latter far more closely.

That was very true to his character, and Kylo often found himself comparing Taleisin to his own, younger self. As their healer, the second youngest Knight was probably the most liked amongst all of them. He had an old soul, a quiet and contemplative nature, and was undoubtedly the one they would mourn the most should he fall.

Silas in contrast was… he was a regular young man. A skilled and lighting fast fighter, but just a few months out of his teenage years with much improvement still needed. Ironically less than a year was between him and Taleisin, but their youngest Knight would often let his youth or enabling influences like the twins get the better of him. While Taleisin would spend his free nights with his face buried in a book- just as Kylo himself had done when he was the same age- Silas would allow himself to get distracted by pursuits his high station in life should have held unfitting. Perhaps it was a mistake to take him on this mission after all.

Kylo stands, closing off their meeting, and summoning all the Knights to the top deck. Today they would practice sparring and harnessing the Force for all of the daylight hours. Kylo would see to Rey's training himself, but he wanted to assure himself that each and every one of them were as prepared for the challenges ahead as they could be.

"The moon is making a cross tonight."

Ria's voice is low, her tone serious. Kylo stares at the elongated X shape of fog illuminated by the rising moon. Below his feet comes a muted round of laughter. All of the other Knights and Rey included were down there finishing dinner. Ria hadn't requested Kylo's presence as she slipped away upstairs, but a heavy aura had hung over her all evening. He had felt it himself as well, though he'd pushed it into the back of his mind along with his other concerns.

"You think this is a bad omen."

Ria doesn't answer. She draws her shawl tighter around her face until just her eyes peek out. Temperatures had dropped sharply since the sun left. Much more so then they should have.

The hatch to below deck opens, spilling warm light and louder noise across the top deck for a moment before it closes again. Kylo steps to the side, making space for Taleisin to join them against the railing.

"We don't believe in omens," the younger Knight says. "Omens are superstition. Superstition is forbidden."

"Not forbidden," Kylo corrects, "but foolish. Superstition can blind us to the warnings of the Force. Make us doubt what we know to be true and belive things are possible that aren't."

Taleisin nods, offering Kylo his untouched mug of ale. Kylo shakes his head and Ria similarly dismesses him, waving her hand away then pointing at the moon.

"What do you make of that, then? Superstition or something else entirely?"

The glwoing cross was now under the moon, the heavy fog making it seem larger still. Kylow frowns, an odd pit of unease growing in his stomach. If he squinted, it almost looked like-

"Fire."

As soon as he says it, he can smell it. Burning wood. Burning tar. Too far away to see what it is, but out here in these remote waters there was only one option.

In the distance another ship was burning, it's central mast now a pillar of flames. They hadn't seen it before because of the heavy fog. The fog that was too heavy, too *cold, to possibly be natural.

And now they were heading right toward it.

Author's Note:

Anyone else doing NaNoWriMo this year? It's that time again! This will be my 4th year in a row! I'm so damned rusty with writing, and now I've only got a little time left to get back in the groove and start planning. I think i'm going to do a mix of fanfiction and fiction-fiction, anyone else want to share their plans? :) You can find me on tumblr at .com and on twitter at Ava_Avdal I love to chat so feel free to message me and say hi! :)