A/N: WOW wow wow! So many reviews from that last chapter, thank you! I appreciate all your comments so much 3
In the end of the last chapter she wasn't calling to Snoke more of realizing with the position she is in that he could be a more serious threat.
Chapter 6
Hux entered the bridge frustration rolling off him as he and an officer exchanged a formal salute. "Now what was so important captain I was busy" Hux asked looking Captain Canady in the eye. Where others would have looked away Canady refused.
"The droid with the map was found, it was seen with the rebel pilot and the traitor on Takodanna" The captain informed continuing. "Ren is on his way there" The smile on Hux face could be described as positively cruel. Ren was going to take care of his problems then no one would know where that scavenger child was and he could really destroy Ren.
"That is all great, but why does it concern me exactly?" Canady suppressed his desire to roll his eyes at the young general.
"They're ready for you on Star Killer base now. A command shuttle will be prepared to deliver you by the end of the day." Hux smirk faltered. Rotten timing. Hux made a split-second decision. Since he wasn't going to get what he wanted out of the scavenger he'd do the next best thing. He left the bridge and headed to the lift preparing to go to the top floor.
Kylo jumped off the shuttle on Takodonna he sent his troopers off after the droid while he attended to other business. The traitor was easy to find, Kylo had already been familiar with his signature in the force and he followed him out into a wooded area alongside Maz's cantina.
Lighting his sabre he preyed upon the ex-storm trooper feeling his fear and oddly enough confusion. Kylo reached out further his anger had blinded him so much that he hadn't even realized Rey wasn't with him, she wasn't on this planet at all. His resolve only grew.
"Tratior!" He screamed his voice skewed by the apparatus on his helmet. "What have you done with her?" He demanded as he caught sight of the man in front of him backing away. Finn stopped and turned around to face Kylo Ren.
"What do you mean what have I done with her?" The confusion again, did this trooper think he was stupid?
"I returned to my chambers and you were both gone, breaking that rebel pilot out and running away" He was ashamed he'd ever trusted this coward to train his apprentice. He thought the compassion in him would lead him to be a kinder instructor than his own master but he had been betrayed.
"I didn't take her" Finn said still backing away from the night. "I tried, after seeing what Snoke had done to her I wanted get her out. I didn't think you would make the right decision" Finn's own anger flared against Kylo's. "She wouldn't go, she said she needed to take care of you" Finn was yelling back now even taking a step towards Ren. Ren's surprise at the troopers sudden lack of fear and confession.
"If she's not with you then, where is she?" Kylo believed this traitor didn't have her, but it didn't account for where she was.
"That damn general demanded she be handed over to Phasma and Rey told us to go." Kylo was struck with horror.
"Hux" He turned leaving the trooper and heading back for his ship, calling his team back with him. He needed to get back as soon as possible. Luck was in his favor as resistance pilots began an attack against his troops at the same time.
If he couldn't find her it meant Hux had her in a cell, even before when she was keeping her force signature hidden he could sense her. She had let him in and now her absence troubled him. The shuttle couldn't get him back to the ship soon enough. It took hours but when he finally stepped off the command shuttle he was immediately approached by an officer.
"The Supreme Leader demands your presence immediately" This was odd, if Snoke wanted to see him he would normally call through the force never had an officer been fetched to retrieve him.
Kylo had half a mind to ignore the request but knew better of it. If he disobeyed Snoke would punish him and it would take him longer to get to Rey. Kylo entered his Master's throne room and was greeted by a sight that brought him horror. Before Snoke laying flat on the ground was Rey.
"Kylo Ren, is it true this is your new apprentice?" He knew better than to lie to Snoke now. Ren bowed down on one knee lowering his head.
"Yes" Was all he could bring himself to say.
"She will bring strong, but you knew that" Snoke was taunting him now. "But what you didn't know was that she has been trained" Kylo's head lifted as his gaze fell on her still form. "I've been looking for this child for sometime. Imagine my surprise when she appeared within my fleet. Then just vanished without a trace." It took all his strength to keep his mind clear. "The strength it would take for this child to resist my will and then to just cloak herself from me, there hasn't been a child comparable since I plucked you away from Skywalker" The comparison now was confusing Ren, where was Snoke going. "Do you know what it is that makes you so attracted to her?" Snoke stared at his apprentice who dare not move. "Yes you're not as clever as you think. Surrender a village for one child? I trained you better than that." Snoke shook his head in disappointment at his apprentice.
"Ever since you turned to me I have been looking for her, the light to meet your darkness. I should have known Skywalker would get to her first" His fury shook the room.
'It was the dead of night when woman dashed over sand dunes running as is her life depend on it taking a glance behind her every few seconds a small bundle wrapped in a dirty white cloth pressed to her chest. The woman slowed as she came to a village knocking on the door of the Niima Outpost. Her urgency obvious as her knocking grew louder and harder. An annoyed Crolute answered the door demanding an explanation for the assault on his sleep.
"Please, this child needs a place to hide she's being hunted." The woman revealed an infant in her arms that somehow managed to sleep through all the commotion. "She's being hunted, I have no where left to go" The crolute examined the woman head to toe he must have seen something that interested him as he allowed the woman and child in.
"Who wants a child like that? She looks useless" Plutt not being one for beating around the bush.
"A jedi has come to take her away from me, he's killed my husband. We just need a place to hide so I can protect her" The woman was begging now. "Just for a night, I can pay you" She reached to her robe and pulled out some credits. Plutt examined the woman again.
"What use is your child to a Jedi?" He wondered if she child would be more valuable than the credits or if he should throw them out all together.
"They said she's powerful, he's not the first. Please. If they take her they will ruin her" Her voice of the woman grew soft and she looked down at her sleeping child. A miracle, they needed a miracle. Plutt turned appearing to be in thought as he stepped away the naïve woman paid him no mind and by the time she returned her gaze to the bulbous man he'd fired a blaster at her head. If the Jedi would come for this child, he would make a killing from her. Too Unkar Plutt's dismay the Jedi never came for her that night and he had the woman tossed out over the hills of sand after keeping her credits and the child. He gave the child to a village elder for care until she was old enough to be of use to him.
The vision progressed showing Rey who must have been around the age of three by now, she was tending to the old woman heating portions for her and cleaning her hut. She would then return to the home of Unkar Plutt and do the same of him, she was forced to prepare his meals and clean his home but was never permitted to eat or sleep within it. She would receive ¼ portion a day most of it she gave to her elderly care taker.
Rey was out scrubbing parts on Plutt's orders when an old man approached her, cloaking her in his shadow. She looked up at him and somehow managed a bright smile then went back to work paying him no mind.
"Child, where is your mother?" The old bearded man asked.
"She's gone, she left me here to work" Her voice was a bit squeaky, but she never turned her head from the part she was cleaning. The man kneeled down beside her.
"Do you ever find yourself to be different from the ones around you?" The man gave her a strange look and Rey found herself thinking of things she'd never really paid attention too. How she always knew when Lady Kanda wanted to see her, or how she could finish Unkar Plutt's work most days before he'd ever asked her, how always knew which travelers to stay away from.
The man nodded and left her. The memories show him coming back looking unfortunate.
"I can't leave" She turned to face him this time and he nodded seeming to understand.
"It's not in my way to take you" She seemed to understand what it was he meant.
"Your famous you know, even here they talk about you" He smiled at her.
"That is no surprise little one, show me where you sleep. I have time to show you a few things before I must go" He looked to the sky cryptically.
"You want to teach me things? I can't I'm sorry. I don't have anything" Rey packed up her clean parts and walked away. She knew who he was and still she turned away from him, with the twitch of a finger he brought her back to him.
"I don't accept payment, and if you don't learn to protect yourself from others like you they will find you" he spoke with a severity that frightened her as she looked into his pale eyes. "Death will be the kindness thing they would do" The vision ended. No hint at the training she'd received or where Skywalker had disappeared too.
"She will be better than you." It was a threat, a guarantee and Kylo knew what it meant when he was bested. "You have one mission now, teach her our ways and lead her to the dark side." Ren looked to Rey her body was so pale and she was sweating profusely. Snoke must have dug deep in her to pull those memories out. "If you can't turn her I will turn to alternate methods, General hux had some interesting idea's of what to do with her." Ren's mind was assaulted with Rey's screams as he saw vision of her being tortured by General Hux. He tied her down to an interrogation chair and drew into her with knives. Kylo had to pull himself out of the vision.
"Take care of her, she will break one way or another" Snokes command served to dismiss him. Kylo collected Rey from the ground and turn to leave with her.
"Kylo," Ren stopped without turning. "should you fail me again I will kill her."
Kylo laid Rey on his bed as soon as her body hit his blankets her eyes opened and she gasped for air. She sat up her breathing ragged as looked around in a panic. Kylo stood beside his bed and remained silent part of him felt like his life had been sucked away. Her fate had been sealed the moment Hux surrendered her to Snoke.
Snoke had known, Hux hadn't betrayed her he had.
"Ben" She was finally catching her breath, she looked up at him. "What happened?" She was trying to remember but all she could recall was Kylo's rage that his mother had spoken to her. She knew there was more but her mind wasn't able to see what had happened.
"He knows you're here Rey, and I am to train you from now on." It was all he planned to tell her. "Rest for now. I'll get you some jogan fruit" And he left her alone. Something about him felt empty to her. She was had to go to the bathroom so she got out of bed on wobbly knee's and made her way to the refresher. After attending to her business she washed her hands and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, a thin cut along her right cheek caught her attention. Slowly she ran her fingers over it and was greeted with the memory of Hux threatening Finn and taking her captive.
She left the refresher and went to the living room of Kylo's chamber seeing him sitting on his sofa his head in his hands looking miserable. She approached him slowly and put her hand on his head, Kylo jumped startled.
"Rey you should be-" He stopped scolding her abruptly when he noticed the hollow look in her eyes.
"Hux wanted to…" She paused, she couldn't say the words. She didn't really understand what sex was but she knew it wasn't something people her age was supposed to do. She'd seen his thoughts on the shuttle as he brought her here and the things he wanted to do to her body made her shiver. "He thought about, um… he wanted me" It was all she could managed to say, Kylo bared witness to her thoughts, seeing the memories she had of Hux's thoughts him on top of her, her blood, his pleasure. "Why?" Rey didn't really understand what she wanted to know. Why did Hux want something from her like that? Why were men so cruel… some men? How could a man do that to a woman? Want that with a child?
Kylo didn't say anything he pulled her into his chest and held her close. He wanted to protect her but her innocence was being stolen from still. The truth was Kylo didn't understand either, to him she was practically a baby but he also knew that even at her age Snoke had laid a claim on his life like he was doing to her now.
"Rey I'm going to teach you to protect yourself from people like Hux okay?" She nodded. "We are going to start training together tomorrow, but it's going to be hard. I will never hurt you on purpose alright, I'll never raise a hand to you" Rey nodded staying quiet she felt like he was hiding something, but he seemed so stressed she didn't want to bother him much more.
She jumped up on the sofa next to him and leaned on his arm and closed her eyes. When she was close to him like this she could feel the light in him shine brighter., but somehow it also left her feeling darker inside.
Rey opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself back in Kylo's bed. She sat up and smiled, he had tucked her in beneath his blankets too. She hopped up rubbing her eyes of their sleep and walked into the living space, on the counter were some datapads, a note and a basket of jogan fruit.
'Rey, review these and have something to eat. We'll start your lessons when I get back. Do NOT leave my room'
She picked up one of the purple fruits and bit into it happily grabbing one of the datapads and skimmed through the lesson. She became dismayed when she found she couldn't understand all the words and terms. Rey had a love hate relationship when it came to reading, her work in the old star ships helped her learn to understand writing but she still had a hard time comprehending what tings meant. She hadn't really known any children her age and school on Jakku was only for those that could afford not to work. Are kids her age supposed to read? She really didn't know.
Right now she was missing Finn. He would have helped her understand all of this, but she understood why he had to leave. The first order expected him to do things that he just couldn't do and the penalty for not following orders would have been death, plus at least he got to save that pilot.
As she finished her first jogan fruit she decided she may as well have another one. She laid on the sofa sorting through the holopads and datapads making sure she found the ones she could do on her own. When Kylo Ren returned he was tempted to think someone had broken into his apartment, the stack of pads he had left on the counter were now strewn about the room lazily and as he looked to his sofa he smiled, there was Rey fast asleep head on a datapad with a half eaten jogan fruit nestled in her outstretched hand. The place might be a mess, but at least he knows she has looked at everything at least once.
He looked at the clock in his room, it was getting late. Ren had planned on approaching Hux but he learned Hux was already preparing on their new base on the Star Killer weapon. No matter Ren would be there soon as well. Ren gently picked Rey up and brought her to his bed tucking the blankets around her so she would stay warm. The night before had caught her shivering and being restless, he never wanted her to worry about the little things again, she should never have to go hungry, or cold, or tired.
He pulled his sleeping clothes out of his closet and went to shower. Before he had found Rey in his bed he would only wear boxers to bed, but he'd adjusted now to wearing sleeping pants and a soft shirt. Just the past month so much of him had changed, as he thought back on it he could hardly believe the child in his bed had caused such a difference. As he got out of the shower his thoughts continued. Before her he would have gone to his desk and worked well into the night to ensure everything was perfect, but now he was more worried about disturbing her than his paperwork. He wanted to lay with her in his bed and keep her safe from all the monsters that tried to scare her, he wanted to help her become strong so she never had to fear anyone again, but the most important thing, he wanted to protect the light in her. She was like a star to him, she would show him the way when he was lost. His constant reach to her worried him for if she was a star that meant he was a black hole and all he would do is destroy.
The only hope he had right now was to begin training and hope for the best.
A/N: Well this chapter was a killer, it just kept veering off in a different direction. Kylo Ren is not a good listener, but at least we know he still has a soul and conscience. And no worries the story is still growing so we're still moving forward! I wanted to give Rey a better back story she still pretty much no one but at least we know her parents didn't sell her for drinking money. I was tempted to maker her Skywalkers daughter but that is to deviant for where I want this story to go… maybe the next one! Next chapter probably won't be up until Wednesday but I'll try for tomorrow night though.
