A/N - Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Leaning against the wall of the cave, Rey stared out the entrance. In the shadows of the evening, she could just barely make out the figures of a few guards, but she only saw them because she knew that they were there.
If she hadn't known, she never would have been able to see them amongst their strategic hiding spots. The caves were good shelter, but without fair warning that an attack was coming it was easy to get trapped within the thick walls. There were many escape routes throughout the underground system, but there were just as many dead ends.
Following her escape, the Resistance had fled to the Forest Moons of Endor, where General Organa had connections with the native sentient beings known as Ewoks who permitted them to construct a base within a network of caves.
Rey didn't fool herself into thinking she was alone out here; Leia had people watching her like a hawk since she'd been taken, but at least she had a little sense of peace and tranquility.
Well, at least until she sensed Poe coming.
She turned as the man emerged from the dark recesses of the cave. He leaned against the wall opposite her, his arms folded over his chest as he gazed at her.
Poe was quite similar to her, Rey had quickly learned. They both had quick tempers and impulsive actions. She felt like she could trust him, that she could talk to him.
"Do you think you'll ever fall in love?" she questioned.
He turned toward her, his eyes bright in the night, his dark eyebrows quirked upward as he studied her.
"Is that what you think you were?"
She was silent as she thought over her next words. Poe had to believe her, he had been in the palace with her, he had seen Ben's kindness for himself..
"Yes."
He swallowed heavily as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Rey, things happened in there, things I can't even begin to imagine…"
"Don't start, Poe," She told him sharply. "Finn may choose to believe that, but you know better. You were there, you saw him. You saw us. Do you really think I don't know what I felt in there?"
"I believe that you think you do," He told her gently. "And no, I don't think I'll ever fall in love."
"Oh."
He moved away from the wall, throwing his arm casually around her shoulders. He grinned down at her, and she couldn't help but grin back at him. Poe may not understand her, but he would always be there for her.
Together, they gazed out into the night. She was so absorbed in the comfort of her friend that it took her a few moments to realize that all of the animals and insects had gone silent.
Rey lifted her head slowly, her heart thumping wildly as she gazed out at the darkness. She searched for the guards amongst the trees and spotted their prone figures amid the darkness.
"Poe," she whispered.
"I know. Come on."
He pushed her deeper into the cave, with his hand on her back, as they made their way swiftly through the familiar terrain. The guards still hadn't raised the alarm, a low pitched whistle that could easily blend in with the chirping of the insects, but Rey strained to hear it.
It would be coming soon.
When they were far enough from the entrance, they broke into a run, feet flying over the rock of the cave floor. They might already be too late if the First Order was already upon them.
They took a side tunnel on the right, ducking as the ceiling became lower. Poe turned back and grabbed hold of one the lever that would activate the heavy steel doors that had been built into the wall.
"The guards!" she hissed, grabbing hold of his arm before he could close the gate.
"It's too late for them, Rey."
Horror filled her as the low pitched warning whistle echoed through the caves. Poe froze for a moment, and the gate was still partly open when she sensed something approaching. Poe effectively sealed the guards out as he pulled the lever and the doors slid shut.
There were many other tunnels leading through here. It could take awhile for the First Order to find the right tunnel, and the doors should buy them enough time to try to escape.
They retreated, moving as quickly as they could through the stooped tunnel. Rey's heart pounded rapidly in her chest, a crushing sense of time running out seized hold of her as something large and heavy slammed into the doors.
Rey was panting for air as they raced forward, running on instinct and memory alone, too disturbed by what was behind them to grab one of the unlit torches from the walls surrounding them.
Poe led her around another turn, pausing long enough to reach back and activate another set of doors. They weren't far from the main area of the base now, and Rey could hear the faint sounds of chatter and laughter.
Poe and Rey stumbled into the main hall. Everyone became silent as Poe spun around to slam another set of doors shut.
"They're here." Rey informed them.
There were a good hundred people in the room, and while panic claimed a few, most immediately assumed their stations, closing the three doors that blocked the tunnels from the main room.
Rey was dismayed to see that chaos took over promptly afterwards as people began to run about, trying to gather as many of their things as possible. She wished that Leia were here. She would have an easier time at keeping everyone calm, but she had gone to negotiate with the Ewoks and garner support among the other sentient creatures on Endor.
"Everyone! You need to calm down!" She raced into the center of the room, holding her hands up as she tried to calm the fray. No one paid her any attention as they began to push and shove their way toward the only remaining exit. "Wait!"
Finn grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her free of the crushing bodies.
"Everyone calm down!" His voice was louder than normal, but not so loud that it would bounce down the tunnels, and not so loud that it caused anyone to hesitate for more than a moment. "Damn it!"
Grabbing hold of her arm, he pulled her against him as he began to shove his way back through the disarray, fighting against the seemingly endless sea of people. She searched for Poe, but she couldn't see him amongst the wave of bodies.
As they finally broke free, she struggled to get oxygen into her abused lungs. Poe was suddenly before her, thrusting her lightsaber and quarterstaff into her hands.
"We're going to have to find another way out."
The tunnel behind them, the one that everyone was shoving through, was the only one that didn't eventually meet back up with the main tunnel they had just left. There were ways outside, through other tunnels, but there was a chance that the First Order was already in one of those tunnels.
To open one of the gates back up was a huge risk, something they had never planned on having to do.
Rey glanced back at the exit tunnel, jammed full of bodies pushing and shoving at each other. In the drills they had run, most people were supposed to be halfway through the tunnel by now, but panic had hindered things.
"We have to help them."
She took a step forward, but Finn grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back sharply.
"There's no helping them now, Rey. We have to get out of here before we're trapped. We have to go."
"The people," she whispered.
"They'll be fine, they have a safe exit, remember?" He reminded her. "Come on.""
She followed Finn and Poe back toward the gate that they had entered the cavern through.
"We just came through there."
"There are three gates already closed between us and the main hall," Poe explained. "It will be the safest one."
His long fingers worked deftly over the locks, swiftly throwing them open.
Finn seized hold of her hand as they plunged into the black tunnels. The darkness enveloped them and she could barely make out the back of Poe's head as she strained to see.
They couldn't use any of the torches; that was just begging to be caught and killed, or worse, be recaptured and brought back to whatever horrible fate awaited her at the hands of Snoke.
She shuddered at the thought, hand tightening around her lightsaber. It would be difficult to wield in these restricted confines, and from the direction Poe was heading she knew it was about to get a lot more compact.
She hated this route through the caverns, but it was the one that made the most sense right now. It would be harder for First Order forces to navigate through here, and at this point the other tunnel options led to a waterfall that concealed the Millenium Falcon.
It was a beautiful view, but the sounds of rushing water blocked out the noise of their pursuers, and they were relying on their sense of hearing most right now. The rocks were also slippery, and climbing them under the best of circumstances was risky enough, without adding the bonus obstacle of rushing.
Poe took a sharp right and the tunnel began to climb steeply upward. They were heading toward the back of the mountain, and what had once been a hunting outpost run by Duloks from the Korga tribe, some of the other sentient beings on Endor.
Rey hated the hunting post, and the Duloks in general. Thankfully, Poe took a left and began to climb toward the other side of the mountain.
The air became easier to breathe, although the walls were still snug against them. Finn's hand tightened around hers. She was grateful for his reassuring presence, his solid strength and warmth as he led her hastily forward. Poe stopped suddenly, causing them to nearly bump into him.
They stood silently, straining to hear anything within the dark, damp space. They were only a hundred feet from the end of the tunnel, only a hundred feet from freedom… or certain death.
"We're going to have to move fast. Stay low and head straight for the Falcon," Poe instructed. "If we get separated, meet at the ship. If we can't get to the ship, meet by the second entrance to the hanger. We might need to take an X-wing."
Poe rushed forward, leading the way as they raced through the dark, up the slope, toward the unknown.
They plunged into the night, and Rey inhaled large gulps of fresh air, relieved to be free of the confining space of the caves. They were almost a hundred feet from the cave exit when the screaming pierced through the rapid beat of her heart in her ears.
She froze, sadness coiling through her as she turned back around. They were higher up on the mountainside, staring down across the way, The lake was beneath them, gleaming in the moonlight that reflected off of it. Across the lake was the exit from the escape tunnel, hidden within the trees.
The exit had been selected because it was the farthest point from the main entrance, and well concealed. It was also where the screams were coming from. She could see people scattering in every direction, fleeing as they tried to escape the monsters pursuing them.
Rey couldn't fully comprehend the carnage before her. They had to do something, now.
She darted forward, determined to get down there and help her people. Finn seized hold of her arm, pulling her back. She strained against him as he started to pull her towards the Falcon.
"We have to help!" she protested.
"There's nothing we can do, Rey."
"We can't just leave them!"
Finn's eyes were dark, sad, broken in the moonlight.
"It's too late for them," he told her. "It's how you were captured before, Rey. You can't heedlessly run in again."
Her gaze wandered hopelessly over to Poe, who stood at the edge of the waterfall, waiting impatiently for them. She could spy Chewie's figure as the ramp to the Falcon descended.
Finn gently pulled her back and away from the scene before them.
"Hurry!" Poe urged.
"It will be okay, Rey." Finn pulled her close for a brief moment before tugging her towards the waterfall. They scrambled over the rocks, moving as quickly as they could. Poe led the way, taking a zigzagging route that allowed them to stay out of sight.
Rey felt numb, hollow. The screams of the tortured followed her even after they were out of earshot. She followed the boys into the Falcon, barely noticing Chewie's greeting, as she collapsed into one of the seats in the cockpit.
So many dreams and plans and hopes had come from this cockpit. But those dreams were gone now, and in their place were bleak hopelessness and the echoing screams of the innocent. Yet beneath all of that there was something else, something new rising up to course through her, a feeling she couldn't identify amidst all of the agony and confusion tearing her apart.
For a moment, she didn't know what it was that was consuming her. And then, she did.
It was hatred.
It was pure and simple hate. She hated this world of cruelty, hated the men who had created it. She hated it with everything that she had and was.
And she hated the man that had done this to her, the man who had stomped all over her heart, making her weaker, making her a broken shell of the person she had once been.
But now that shell was filling up again. That shell was infuriated and twisted and so hate filled that she could barely breathe through its fiery consumption.
She hated Ben, she realized.
There would be no more grieving for him, there would be no more wondering and heartache. What had passed between them was the past. It was over.
Rey would forget it, she would move on, and if their paths ever happened to cross again… she would kill him.
A/N - Uh oh, that's a pretty strong threat from Rey! Think she'll go through with it when the time comes?
As always please leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions, and predictions, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
~ Elizabeth (FanOfDeliciousFlavour)