FAGE 12. Never Too Late to Start Anew
Title: Bleeding Out
Written for: TuxedoKat
Written By: KitsuShel
Rating: Everyone
Summary/Prompt used:
1. According to legend, if you kissed someone beside the Forever Fountain, it would be true love forever.
3. Sacrificed to the dragon
5. She's freaked out by who he really is… a werewolf/ex con/etc
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Bleeding Out
O~o~O
I'm bleeding out
Said if the last thing that I do
Is to bring you down
I'll bleed out for you
O~o~O
Rey ran as fast as she could through the dense brush. The shouts of villagers trailed behind her, the faint glow of their torches and pitchforks steadily catching up. Her breath grew ragged as she pushed her legs harder, leaping over an ancient fallen tree. Every ten years, the Jakku village elders chose a young maiden to send as a sacrifice to the great dragon that resided atop Skywalker's Mountain. This year, Rey was chosen. As a child who had been orphaned and left behind by her family, it had been a unanimous decision. No one would miss the young scavenger.
What they did not expect was for Rey to fight back; she would not be led to her demise without a struggle. The closer she came to the base of the mountain, the sparser the trees became. The irony was not lost on her that she should've been running in the opposite direction, but there had been little room to maneuver when she made her escape.
Soon, she found herself facing a literal wall—there was nowhere left to run. A noise from her right had Rey whipping her head in that direction. She squinted her eyes but could see nothing in the dark of the forest to cause her fright. Just as she was turning her head, a glint from above caught her eye. There was a little crevice on the side of the mountain, about twenty feet above. Rey ran her fingers over the cool, rocky surface until she came across a small outcropping that she could grip her fingers upon.
She took a deep breath and began to pull herself up the side of the mountain. A sharp rock caught on her leggings and dug a gash into her thigh, but still she persisted. Her fingers were raw and bloody by the time she pulled herself into the small opening just in time. She held her breath as she could clearly hear the voices of the men who had been chasing her.
Making herself as small as possible, she sat frozen for what felt like hours as they searched the area for her location. Breathing as slowly, calmly as she could, she waited patiently. She was good at waiting.
"The girl is gone." Rey recognized the voice of Tarkin, a warrior from the village.
"Maybe the dragon already snatched her up?" speculated another, whom she recognized as the one called Plutt.
Tarkin laughed darkly. "I'm sure that would make Elder Snoke pleased, although I'm sure he would've much preferred a spectacle. He'd have loved to hear the screams as she was torn apart."
Plutt grunted a non-committal response as their voices faded away into the night.
Rey breathed a sigh of relief and tried to take notice of her surroundings. It appeared that she'd somehow found a small tunnel that led further into the mountain. She weighed her options momentarily. She could either continue on exploring further, or go back to the forest and take her chances with Snoke's men. It was an uncomfortable position, but she chose to crawl forward on her aching hands and knees. If she were going to die this eve, it would be by her own choices.
After what felt like hours of struggling, Rey began to notice the tunnel becoming wider and brighter. The end of her path came at a wide open cavern. She swung her legs over the edge of the opening and let her body fall heavily to the ground a few feet below. Her shoulders burned with fatigue as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. She looked around the cavern slowing, taking in the strange tally-like scratch marks covering the walls with torches warmly lighting the room, and the sound of water flowing nearby.
Her breath left her body all at once as her gaze met a pair of large golden eyes watching her from the shadows in the farthest corner of the cavern.
"Hel-hello," she stammered.
"Hello, girl." A deep voice echoed through the room.
"I'm sorry for intruding," she said, her voice full of fear.
The eyes blinked slowly before the creature replied, "Are you?"
Rey swallowed the lump of terror in her throat. She instinctively knew this was the dragon she'd been chosen as a sacrifice for. Tears stung her eyes as she resigned herself to her fate.
"For what it's worth, I truly am. But it was either take my chances here or certain death out there."
Silence filled the room. Rey took a deep breath. "Am I to become your next meal?"
The golden eyes widened in surprise. Clearly, that was not what it had expected to leave the small human's mouth.
"Is that your wish, girl? Is this the reason you've entered my home uninvited?"
"What? No- I-" Rey began to speak but paused momentarily to collect her thoughts. "I am from the village below. I was chosen as a sacrifice to the great dragon who lives upon this mountain. I ventured inside to escape the men who were chasing me."
The creature snorted from his place in the shadows. "Foolish mortals. I never said I wished for a sacrifice."
Rey's heart began to beat frantically inside of her chest. That response left no room for interpretation—this was indeed the dragon.
"Does this mean you're not going to eat me?" she asked hesitantly.
Terrified, she watched as he smiled with sharp teeth glinting in the meager light which shone its way.
"I didn't say that."
Her eyes grew wide as saucers as the creature shuffled and began to slowly step into the full light of the room. The dragon's head was the size of her entire body, with gleaming maroon scales covering its skin. A large scar cut across his face continuing down to his upper chest. She cast her eyes down in deference.
"Do you have a name, girl?"
"Rey," she answered in a small voice.
"Rey. Hmm," he hummed in thought. "You are a scrawny thing, so no, I won't be having you as a snack."
She looked up at the creature, surprised to hear the humor in his tone. They watched each other carefully for a few moments before the dragon sighed.
"You are free to leave, Rey. I'll take you back down the mountain safely. Tell your village that I said to stop sending young maidens to their demise on my behalf."
Terror struck through her middle, not from the dragon, but at the thought of going back to the village full of villainous people who cared nothing for her.
"Could I"—she paused a moment before continuing—"could I perhaps stay, or do you know of some place safe and warm I could go, somewhere beyond the village?"
The dragon's head cocked to the side slightly in confusion. "You'd wish to stay? Do you not want to return to your family?"
Rey shook her head and blinked back her tears. "I have no family, and I am nothing to those people in the village. If I return, they'll more than likely kill me anyway."
The dragon's eyes darkened as it gazed intensely into her face. It nodded slowly.
"Yes," he spoke softly. "Yes, I have a place for you."
"Do you have a name, milord?"
The dragon's eyes narrowed. "You may call me Kylo, but I am not your lord. I will be your friend. There is no need for servitude, girl."
Rey felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She couldn't understand why, but she felt safer in Kylo's presence than she ever had in the village. She felt a kinship with this creature.
"Then I would very much like to be your friend, Kylo."
AN:
Hi guys! I really hope you enjoy this little story I wrote for this year's FAGE! It's my first venture into writing for the Star Wars/Reylo fandom, and I'm super excited to share this with you.
ENORMOUS gratitude goes out to Chaya Sara for beta'ing this and putting up with my horrid comma usage, as well as to mariescullen for the absolutely beautiful banner she made for this story! (She's also writing an awesome WIP called The Boy in the Backyard.)
Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, nor any of their characters/properties. This is just for fun.