A/N: Hi All! If you are reading this, is means you have gotten this far in my little fanfic - thank you so much for giving it your time! :) Hope you will like this chapter!
Disclaimer: None of the recognizable characters or locations are mine. The planet Sullust was, I believe, in Battlefront II, but, since I'm no gamer, I found it on wookiepedia :) I have only came up with the character that is named at the end of the chapter! And the plot, of course.

Chapter 005 – Cold

The planet Sullust was cold. Not literally, because its subterranean cities had artificial atmospheres with perfectly adjusted temperature. In fact, Sullust was beautiful with its vast lava rivers roaring fire, the colossal towers of countless factories and the impossibly azure lakes. It was all like a miracle.

Still, though, it was cold.

Or maybe it is me, Rey thought, maybe it is me that's cold, not this place. She had been there for nearly a week, and she hasn't spoken to a living soul. She saw humans and aliens, plenty of them, passing under the window of the tiny abandoned apartment she holed up in, but she hadn't made any interaction with anyone.

Abandoned? Really? Rey's conscience seemed to be a voice of its own recently. She frowned and wrapped herself in one of the blankets – there were plenty of them in this house, almost as if the previous owner had been constantly cold, too.

The owner you cast away, the conscience reminded. Rey walked over to the small kitchen unit and poured herself a glass of water. It wasn't like she's committed any crime here. Why was she feeling guilty then?

When she'd first landed on Sullust, she'd panicked and stole a speeder to get further into a city of Ash Angel's destination as fast as possible. In hindsight, that was a bad move. Sullust was a place way better organised than the Five Point Station and, naturally, an image of her silly theft showed up on the screens and holovids everywhere within minutes. Rey was almost impressed. Or she would be, if she wasn't so freaked out.

Yes, she had gotten away from Poe and the Resistance and she fiercely hoped that had drawn the First Order's attention away from them at least for a while. But she hadn't really thought through what she was going to do, once she is on her own. She had the sacred Jedi texts, but some of them were in a language she couldn't understand. Besides, it was quite difficult to peacefully study Jedi ways when there was a price of 10 million credits on your head for – now she knew the crime; she had seen the holovid on one of the squares of the city – the worse crime of them all – cold-blooded murder of the Supreme Leader Snoke.

When Rey had saw the holovid, she'd almost laughed. Oh, the perfect irony of it. Ben had killed Snoke, because he didn't want to kill her (partly, at least. Rey knew this wasn't his only motivation), and now she was charged with this crime and he played the role of outraged, mourning successor, who wanted to avenge his beloved master.

So she didn't really feel much guilt – initially, in any case – when she walked into a completely random apartment in one of the more crowded districts and told its owner – a young human named Tate – that he needs to pack the most essential belongings and go for a trip of the lifetime to Naboo, where he will start afresh.

She tried not to think whether he made it or not. Why wouldn't he make it, she told herself for seemed like a millionth time. Not everyone is a fugitive with a body count, like yourself, Rey.

Now, after six days of a lot of sleep, pacing the apartment from wall to wall, staring at the window at human traffic and speeders passing by, Rey felt cold. That was all she felt. The frantic state of mind from the Five Point Station seemed like a blurry nightmare. She was calm now. And cold.

She tried to study the books she stole from Ach-too, but on most occasions, she would fall asleep after just a few lines. Few times there was knocking at the door, and Rey would wait with a blaster she'd stole on Ash Angel ready for hours, but it seemed like whoever wanted to see Tate, didn't care enough to tear the door down, or to raise any alarm. She wondered briefly whether he even had anyone who would miss him.

Maybe not. Maybe that's a good thing. Galaxy is full of lone stars and meaningless scavengers.

On the seventh day, when there was nothing more left to eat, she was forced to leave the apartment. She was surprised she'd had enough supplies for this long anyway. Probably Tate didn't like going out much. Or maybe he was one of those people who believed the War to End All Wars would start any day now. The End of the World, they called it. There were some of them in every corner of the galaxy, even on Jakku. Rey remembered the ones from Jakku very well – they were a family who lived in a cave, they had seven children who scavenged twelve hours a day but ate only a small part of what they earned. The majority was to be kept for the End Times. Rey had often wondered how come no one ever robbed them, but, once she heard people talking about the crazy level of security their seemingly normal cave had. If you are expecting the world to end, nothing else will surprise you, ever, Rey remembered thinking.

If only I was half as prepared, she thought as she walked the streets in a long hooded coat she'd found at the apartment. It was made from some sort of leather, dyed black and was surprisingly warm. Too warm, perhaps, for this city. She went to the local market and bought some dry rations that she intended to take back with her, but what she was really after was someplace she could purchase a holographic mask. She was quite exhausted of using the Force to wipe herself from everyone's attention. She wished she'd taken the mask Poe offered her. A documents forger would be nice, too, since she didn't think she'd get away with such a narrow escape as from Five Point Station again. Ever.

A large screen with the First Order propaganda video caught her attention and she stopped in her tracks. She wasn't the only one staring at the display of power; there was quite a group watching the video of Star Destroyers soaring through starlit sky in full grace with dramatic music in the background. There was also an army on the screen, the army – countless Stormtroopers and Deathtroppers in shining armours, marching in front of almost equally countless officers and generals. And above it all there was him – the new Supreme Leader, tall and dark, without his mask.

Rey clenched her fists. It took that one a moment for all her calmness to disappear, just one look at his face and she was, again, so angry. What are you angry about, exactly? Her conscience sneered at her and Rey had to force herself to walk away from the screen. She pulled the hood deeper and walked into the nearest cantina, where she ordered the cheapest drink and sat at the table in the back, away from the lights and the chatter.

Deep breaths, she told herself, but it wasn't easy to calm down. It was merely his image on the screen, in a stupid propaganda video – which is why his hair looked so good – but it made her blood boil with rage. And regret. And something else, that she did not – will not – admit.

"Hey, you're that girl! I saw you coming in here!" someone said right behind Rey. She turned to see a man, a human, possibly in his twenties, a drink in one hand, the other hand already reaching for the blaster. 10 million credits were worth a little disturbance in a local shithole like this one.

Rey took off the hood, and ran her hand through her hair. She hardly ever kept her hair loose, it was far more practical to tie them in a bun, or three for that matter, especially when you were climbing gigantic wrecks of Star Destroyers all day long. Now, however, she felt it was better to look less like her Most Wanted Criminal holovids. If only she could have a different face, too. She smiled at the man and gestured for him to sit with her.

"Aren't you a pretty thing!" he said and sat next to her. His hand was still ostentatiously on his blaster. He looked quite scruffy, although, she sensed something not quite right about him. Rey knew she would stand no chance reaching for her own blaster, so she decided to use the tactic that had already proven effective.

"I am not the criminal you are looking for," she said with a sweet smile. She felt her calm intent emanating into the man, who for a moment looked very disturbed, as if he was fighting this strange feeling that came over him. In the end, he gave in.

"Of course, you're not!" he said, "Just wanted to catch your attention."

"And perhaps buy me a dinner?" Rey offered, still smiling. She briefly wondered whether this was wrong, but if there was one thing life on Jakku had taught her, it was to take any chance for a free meal that presented itself. It surely seemed like one.

"Of course," the man answered, but made no intention to move. Instead, he took a large sip of his drink and said, "Although, it would be kind of rude to keep all these fine soldiers waiting."

"What soldiers?" Rey looked around. The cantina was crowded, but it seemed like the people dining in and getting drunk were civilians, mostly the workers from the local factory. Surely the man must have been bluffing. And how come he didn't respond to the Force Rey used on him?

"Let me guess," the man leaned in across the table, "You are wondering why didn't I fall for your mind tricks, is that right?" Rey didn't say anything, it was better to let this man, whoever he was, continue, "Well, let me tell you, Rey, I've dealt with the Jedi before. One, to be specific. Until his pathetic school got burnt down to the ground. So you're not gonna fool me here."

Rey stared at the man in horror. What were the odds of running into one of Master Luke's students? Especially, since the only ones left alive were now actually the Knights of Ren. I think I should just run, she thought frantically.

"And the soldiers, my dear, are outside. The place is surrounded."

"I'll go with you freely," Ray said, "But can I ask you just two questions? It won't keep them waiting all that long."

"Why not, I'm in a generous mood," the man laughed, "I've just earned 10 million credits after all."

"How did you find me? I mean, what are the chances?"

"Ah, for that you should thank your friends from the Resistance!" the man laughed genuinely, as if he was about to tell some heart-warming story, "We caught some unusual activity around the Five Points Station right after your hideous crime against the First Order was announced, our data tracking across the galaxy is really exquisite, girl. So, after that we inspected all the ships that had left the place and we noticed a small…discrepancy during the check-out of one of the ships going to Sullust. 10 minutes missing from the tape, more than enough to let someone through unnoticed."

Rey nodded. She shouldn't have stayed here. She should have jumped onto the closest ship the moment the Ash Angel touched down. Instead what has she done? Stole a speeder and slept for a week.

"Surely this couldn't have been the only missing footage during the crew check-out in the whole galaxy, and you still followed this lead?"

"Like I said, this and the appearance of the famous Millennium Falcon, all within a few hours from setting the price for your head, it was all too much of a coincidence. Our new wise Supreme Leader sent me to investigate. And, you have to agree with me, Rey," the man spread his hands in seemingly helpless gesture, "There wasn't much to investigate. We found you pretty much straight away."

"And you just hang around for a week?" Rey raised her eyebrows, "I find it hard to believe you would waste Supreme Leader's previous time so carelessly."

The man narrowed his eyes at her. He had bright green eyes, they shone almost artificially. Rey heard stories that Sith would often change appearance, especially eyes, once fully committing to the Dark Side, but this man's eyes didn't seem as monstrous. Perhaps Ben's Knights of Ren are truly the new age, Rey thought. But then, again, it was more about the actions of one, than one's appearance.

"Well, let's not waste any more time, then," the man stood up and pointed the blaster at Rey.

"You promised me two questions." Rey said. He rolled his eyes. "Be quick!" he said.

"What is your name?" Rey asked.

"it's Quay Ren, of the Knights of Ren. Why? Do you want to know who you are going to beg for mercy?" he laughed. Rey shook her head.

"No," she smiled and took one last sip of her drink. Then she turned to Quay and said, "I want to know who I am going to kill."

Quay only had a split of second to process Rey's words. Before he knew, she reached out and without even touching him, sent him flying across the cantina. He landed on one of the tables and Rey used that few moments to focus. She didn't know whether what she wanted to do would happen, but she had to try.

She closed her eyes and felt the familiar surge of energy flow through her. The Force was right there, she didn't even have to reach for it, it was within her.

When she opened her eyes, Quay was getting to his feet. For a single moment, their eyes met. His rage, her tranquillity.

And then, all the widows, bottles, glasses and flasks exploded at once, sending shreds of glass all over the place. Quay screamed as a large piece of sharp glass cut into his neck, but his voice was drowned in overall chaos.

Perhaps I should spend more time reading these Jedi books, because my actions are nothing to be proud of right now, Rey thought with no real conviction. Then she raised her both hands and brought the whole ceiling down.

A/N: Please hit that review button and tell me what you think! And thanks again for reading :)