"This is it," Trojor growled as he pulled the large land speeder to a stop.

Poe shaded his eyes against the late afternoon sun as he blinked at the thick line of trees ahead of them. They had been traveling through open grassland all day with little protection from the sun, so Poe had thought that he would be eager to have some shade once they reached the forest; however, the tall, multicolored trees seemed to him foreboding, a seemingly pleasant disguise for what actually lurked within.

"You can't take us any farther?" Maz asked, peering up at Trojor. He leaned a large furry arm over the side of the speeder, considering. Poe watched appallingly as the catlike Trianii shoved a large toothpick between his massive fangs, eyeing the trees ahead with obvious distrust. Trojor spit out the toothpick over the side of the speeder and straightened himself.

"For you, I risk my life. We go farther," he declared, hitting the gas once again, steering them along the path and into the line of trees.

"Thank you, friend," Maz said, smiling and patting Trojor's muscular arm.

"So, what's the big deal about this forest again? Why doesn't anyone go in here?" Poe asked, eyeing the light blue grass and bright orange bushes along the ground.

Trojor glanced behind his shoulder at Poe. "This forest is harmless," he said. "It is who lives here who is not."

"They're that hostile?" Maz asked inquiringly.

"Yes," Trojor grunted, nodding once. "Five friends came into this forest one day. Only one came back out," he said cryptically.

Poe furrowed his brows. "What the hell?" He said under his breath, eyeing the three Organa soldiers who sat next to him. They all shrugged.

"Who lives here, then?" Maz asked.

"No one knows his name," Trojor said, "but everyone calls him the Prince."

"Well, we'll see about this damn 'prince,'" Poe spat. "I'll bet this joker's never met the power of the Order," he said, elbowing the soldier next to him.

"They say he has travelled far and wide," Trojor continued. "That he has great power."

"Do you know, Trojor?" Maz asked, narrowing her eyes. "Do you know of this power he has?"

Trojor paused to think as he focused on the slimming path ahead. "I hear he has the strength of many men. That he can set fire to buildings with just his hands," he said, lashing his clawed paw out in front of him in imitation.

Maz stared directly at Trojor for a few moments, lost in thought. She then lifted her goggles to rub her small eyes.

"Do you really think this guy could have Rey?" Poe asked Maz anxiously.

Maz narrowed her eyes, watching the path ahead. She pressed her hands to her temples, seeming to focus for a few moments before letting out a long breath. "I'm not sure. I do not sense her presence. But if what Trojor says about this 'Prince' is true, I very much hope he does not," she said.

After about twenty minutes of coasting through the forest, Trojor slowed the speeder once again to a stop. "I do not dare go farther," he grumbled. He placed a large paw onto Maz's tiny shoulder. "I wish you luck in finding your friend," he said, but his voice sounded more sympathetic than hopeful.

Poe, Maz, and the three soldiers climbed out of the speeder, and Maz nodded to Trojor, who nodded solemnly back.

"I will wait for you here until late tomorrow morning," Trojor called as they began making their way down the overgrown dirt path. "I will pray for your return."

Poe scrunched his face, amused at how someone as ferocious as Trojor would actually pray.

"We must be on our guard at all times," Maz warned, leading the group through the foliage. "Let's hope the Force is on our side," she added under her breath. "And Rey's."

….

Rey sped through the forest quickly, veering left and right through the trees. The sky was now dark, and she had lost the dirt path early on. She had been traveling for close to fifteen minutes, using the Force to sense her way along through the dark to avoid hitting the trunks of trees. The light on the front of the speeder was bright, but it still did not allow her to see very far ahead.

Soon, Rey spotted a very faint orange glow far ahead of her through the trees, seemingly on a hill. She slowed the speeder, peering up at the light. It looked like a small fire.

Rey wanted to get closer but was hesitant. She turned off the ignition on the speeder and hopped to the ground in the pitch blackness, slipping her lightsaber out of the cloth sack. She slowly began making her way through the trees towards the light.

The air was mild, but there was a cold breeze as Rey silently moved through the trees, holding out a hand to guide herself through the foliage with the Force.

As she walked, she thought she heard a distant humming behind her, gradually getting louder. She began to sense something in the air.

Rey froze, wrapping her mind around the familiar presence as it grew even nearer. She turned around, her eyes wildly searching the darkness, but she could not see him.

"You cannot go back to them," Kylo's deep voice called from nearby.

Rey glared into the blackness around her, trying to place Kylo's presence. She lifted the hilt of her lightsaber and ignited it in front of her for light. About twenty feet across from her, Rey saw Kylo's pale face faintly illuminated in the blue light of her saber.

"You can't stop me," Rey declared forcefully, gripping her saber with both hands.

Kylo's hair blew in the wind as he drew his own saber from his belt slowly, holding the hilt out diagonally from his body. "Don't make me," he said, his voice especially low.

Kylo began to move towards Rey as she moved backwards at his same pace, trying not to trip over the undergrowth.

"You call them your friends," Kylo sneered as he trudged towards her. "but they will betray you."

Rey's brows knitted together in confusion as she locked onto his dark gaze. She couldn't believe he was actually continuing with this line of persuasion. Her breathing quickened as she struggled to move backwards, away from him.

Rey angled her lightsaber out towards Kylo in case he dared to breach the distance between them.

Kylo stopped, watching her for a moment, and then swiped his hand in her direction to use a Force move against her. Rey held a hand up just in time to block the action. Maybe Luke hasn't taught me everything, Rey thought, but he's taught me enough to hold my own in a fight.

Growing emboldened, Rey mimicked Kylo's action, intending to knock him backwards, but he too blocked her move.

"This is how it will be?" He bellowed, taking a heavy step towards her. As he did so, he flicked his wrist holding with the lightsaber, simultaneously igniting it. He shot her a black look, and again began moving towards her.

Rey decided to fight to stop backing away and fight. She met him halfway and began by blocking one of his wide swings. She then swiped at him with quick, jabbing motions, hoping to reach around his saber and knick his side.

But Kylo was quick on his feet, lithe in his movements as he dodged her attacks with fluid ease. As Rey continued her attempted swipes, Kylo picked up his tempo, displacing his defensive moves with offensive swings, his bright red lightsaber flipping left and right through the air with lightning-fast sweeps. He tossed his weapon effortlessly from one hand to the other between maneuvers.

Rey glared at him between hits, feeling something between hatred and rebellion flooding through her. She hit her lightsaber hard against his once, twice, sending sparks into the air. The growing wind whistled through the trees as they continued their assault for several long minutes, Kylo moving quickly to match Rey's every move, more quickly than he ever had before. Although Rey had also progressed with her ability to wield a lightsaber, Kylo's own increased proficiency in lightsaber dueling infuriated Rey.

Suddenly, as Rey made a jab at Kylo's wrapped arm, he flipped his body sideways, dodging her saber. He quickly took several large steps backwards.

Rey watched curiously as he slowly lowered his saber in front of him, his shoulders rising and falling in quick succession. His dark shadowy eyes were locked on hers, but they were not hostile.

Kylo quickly shook his head, letting his red lightsaber dangle at his side. "You truly don't believe me," he said, amazement in his voice. His eyes flickered to the grass below, which glowed red beneath his lightsaber.

Rey still held her own lightsaber in front of her, poised for another attack. She couldn't understand why he'd stopped fighting her. Thinking it was a ploy to get her to lower her own saber, Rey decided to lunge towards him. Kylo swung his saber up quickly to block her attack aimed at his chest. His hit was hard, forcing Rey to stumble backwards momentarily. As she did so, Kylo made an incredibly hard and lightning-fast swing at Rey's saber, knocking it cleanly out of her grasp. It landed in the grass about ten feet away, disengaged.

Rey froze in astonishment, but suddenly Kylo yanked her towards him with the Force. He immediately gripped her arm tightly as he simultaneously dropped his saber and pressed his other gloved hand to her forehead.

Rey's breath caught in her throat as her mind was filled with the same vision she'd had when she'd held Luke's lightsaber—but this time, it was somehow different. The perspective was seemingly hindered, her view more limited. It was still raining, but she felt protected by thick clothing, something over her head…

Rey realized this Force vision was different because this time it wasn't from her own perspective. It was from Kylo's. Rey was seeing through his mask, his eyes.

Just as before, she saw the countless bodies that were strewn across the ground. She saw a figure dressed in white before her—herself—and she immediately felt flooded with emotion, but it was one unfamiliar to her.

Suddenly, a man jumped in front of her view, clearly positioned to hit vision-Rey over the head with some sort of large bludgeon. She—Kylo—felt the powerful, angry shove of the red lightsaber push through the man's midsection, and at the same time noticed the large Order of Organa symbol on the back of the man's jacket.

The man crumpled to the ground, and she saw vision-Rey looking up at her with confusion, fear, and vision-Rey began to move backwards. As she did so, Rey felt Kylo's determined intent to reach her, but vision-Rey kept moving backwards, until she stumbled over a body behind her. As vision-Rey fell to the ground, Rey say through Kylo's eyes that the dead bodies all wore Organa insignias.

Suddenly, Rey's own eyes burst open as she looked straight into Kylo's. Kylo released his grip on her arm, and Rey staggered backwards, gasping for air. She pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat racing in her chest. She fell back against a nearby tree trunk, using it to steady herself.

"What...what was that?" She asked, exasperated.

Kylo leaned down and picked up his saber, igniting it and holding it at his side, presumably for light. "You know exactly what it was," he retorted, watching her. He took a step towards her, his expression growing concerned. "Calm yourself," he said soothingly.

Rey grew enraged at this request. "I just saw members of my own Order trying to kill me, and you're telling me to calm myself?" She yelled.

"You've already had that vision. But apparently you weren't paying close enough attention," Kylo said, his face glowing red in the light cast from his saber.

Rey's mouth trembled as she struggled to grasp what she'd just seen. It was undoubtedly Kylo's perspective of her same vision, but she didn't want to believe it. She couldn't bring herself to try and understand it. Rey turned her head to the right, seeing the shiny metallic glint of her saber lying in the grass. She reached her arm out and pulled it back to her hand with the Force.

Grasping her saber tightly, she shot Kylo a resentful look, then pushed herself off of the tree trunk and began sprinting away, her saber hilt still held firmly within her hand. She raced towards the firelight she'd seen on the hill, away from Kylo who remained standing behind her, away from the horrible vision she'd just experienced.

Rey struggled for air as tears began to roll down her cheeks, her throat tightening with each labored breath.

As she neared the light, she leaned around the back of a large tree trunk as she observed the scene ahead of her.

In the middle of several makeshift tents, two men sat facing a large campfire, but their faces weren't familiar to Rey. She was about to lose all hope when she saw none other than Poe Dameron emerge from one of the tents, talking to one of the men.

Rey clambered around the tree and sprinted towards him as fast as he could, worried that he would disappear if she didn't reach him quickly enough.

"Poe!" She yelled as she ran towards him. Poe turned, his eyes widening in shock as he saw her just before she threw herself into his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and Rey allowed her tears to flow freely down her face, her sobs wracking her body.

"Oh my god, Rey...Rey," Poe exclaimed, clearly in shock. He buried his face into her neck as he squeezed her tightly. He then lifted her from the ground, swinging her around in a circle before setting her back onto the ground.

Poe held her at arm's length, a tear falling down his own cheek as he examined her face closely. "Where have you been? Are you okay?"

Rey looked back up at him with large eyes, unable to speak. Poe carefully wiped the tears from her cheeks with his finger. He pulled her back into a tight embrace just as Maz came running over to see Rey.

….

Behind a tree not far from the campsite, Kylo Ren watched as Rey threw herself into the pilot's arms. He watched as the pilot embraced her tightly, swung her around, wiped the tears away from her face.

Forcing himself to turn away from the scene, Kylo stalked away. He couldn't help but ignite his saber, slashing down every tree that stood in his way.