The first thing he sees when he meets her is the angry red light of blaster shots. They are aimed at him. He deflects them with the red laser beam of his lightsaber.
He recognizes her immediately. It is the girl from a strange dream. He has seen her twice in a blur of visions. She had fallen in front of him, drained with cold rain, confusion written in her face. As soon as she laid eyes on him, that confusion turned into fear and she staggered backwards, away from his lightsaber. A few moments later, she ran into him again, in a snow covered forest. She fell back and disappeared as quickly as she had come. He didn't know what to make of these visions at first. Until a girl was mentioned several times to him, a girl who has helped the droid and the traitor to escape, a girl who was seen on the Millenium Falcon together with his father, Han Solo. Since then, he knew he had to find her.
They are in a forest again. A different forest but the girl has the same terror in her eyes. She backs away from him frantically as he stalks her, deflecting every blast with ease. He has come for one reason. Get the map to Skywalker.
When he gets tired of their game, he freezes her with the Force. She struggles against the invisible chains, her eyes opened wide as she watches him coming nearer. Find the droid and get the map to Skywalker. He looks at her from top to bottom and back. She looks like a common scavenger – pretty, yes – but there's nothing special about her. He moves closer to her. And still, there is something… Who are you?
"The girl I've heard so much about."
She wants to hurt him. She wants to kill him. He is a monster, cruel and brutal. She hates him. He is an unfeeling, heartless and inhuman monster. He is crouching in front of her, on the floor, watching her behind that damned mask. He tilts his head.
"You still want to kill me."
His distorted voice almost sounds surprised. Rey would laugh out loud if she wasn't strapped to a metallic apparatus, about to be tortured and killed.
"That happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask."
To her surprise, he reaches up and presses against his mask. With a hissing sound, he unlatches the mask and rises, to reveal his face.
Rey stares at him. Looking back at her is not a scarred or twisted face. Looking back at her is not a cruel and sinister creature, inhuman and unnatural. Instead, she is looking at a long face, his raven-black hair creating a stark contrast against his pale skin. It falls in soft waves around his face and his full lips look just as soft. Almost sensual. His dark eyes are watching her and she is confused by the lack of hostility behind them. He is so young. He looks almost vulnerable.
Not a monster. Just a man.
Rey could deal with monsters. But he is not a monster. And that scares her more than anything.
She looks away when he approaches her.
"Tell me about the droid."