Thank you all for your fun, thought provoking reviews, as well as those of you who continue to follow and favor the story! I'm still incredibly humbled by the response.
Anyway, enjoy! :-)
It was another windy day at the canyon. Their training at the pond had been cut short by the impending possibility of another sandstorm, so they had thought it wise to just load up on water and supplies, and head back to camp to stay close to the shuttle in case the weather turned sour. It gave them the opportunity to work on strength, rather than endurance, a task Rey found a bit more challenging as she commanded her sore biceps to lift her weight for the fiftieth time over the semi extended shuttle wing.
They were down to their last portion, which meant they had to find an adequate source of protein to sustain their bodies during the strenuous physical training. Having never eaten the flesh of another living entity, Rey found Kylo Ren's hunting suggestion rather preposterous and completely repulsive. Despite the limited resources she'd had growing up on Jakku, she'd never experienced a shortage of portions, whether by her own bartering or other resident's charity. After all, people who were forced to live on desolate rocks with scarce resources were bound to offer each other a lending hand on occasion. Perhaps their current situation was truly a matter of extreme survival. But having no choice but to eat dead flesh? She shuddered once again at the thought.
Another gush of wind swirled down the canyon leaving a cloud of sand and dust in its wake. Rey let herself drop to the ground, a thin layer of sweat covering her skin, and watched the haze settle around them.
"Do you think there is another storm coming?" she asked, partly out of curiosity, and partly to break the unbearable silence that was already grating on her nerves.
Not that silence in itself was a concept she wasn't used to. Jakku had taught her to thrive within it, and she had found herself even craving it when the rowdy environment at the base had become a bit too overwhelming. But there was something about not talking while in the proximity of another person that she hadn't mastered yet. With Finn, conversations had flowed easily from the get-go for, in that respect, they were both kindred spirits. Even at the Niima Outpost while she'd polished her pieces, there had been smiles and glances exchanged, a form of non-verbal communication that was comforting and familiar. But, with mystics like Master Luke and Kylo Ren, the lack of verbal interaction bordered on the unsettling.
Wondering if he'd even heard her earlier question, she turned to him. "The last one almost tore the shuttle apart."
Ren did one last push-up and stood up. "At least those troopers got that burial you thought they merited," he deadpanned.
She sent him a withering glance, a bit stunned by his ill attempt at humor, if that's what one could call it. "There are people under those masks, you know," she mumbled, arms crossed over her chest. "They deserve respect."
"They're dead," he said without a shred of emotion.
Walking past her, he stood in the middle of the canyon with a mild frown allowing the wind to pull at his sash, batter his trousers and tousle his hair. She watched him for a long moment, wondering what he could be up to, secretly wishing he would put his stupid shirt back on, and hating herself for finding his bare upper body so damn distracting.
"Get over here!" he called.
He pointed his chin towards a pile of fallen rocks a few yards ahead. Rey followed his gaze and caught on to his train of thought right away.
"The round one in the middle," he indicated. "Focus on it, use the Force and lift it off the ground."
Just like that?
Rey frowned, contemplating the rock in question, and figured it was about ten times bigger than any other object she had ever successfully shifted, having been trained in the displacement of manageable items at first. She remembered Master Luke mentioning how a Jedi ought not to perceive things by their volume or their weight, but her mind still couldn't grasp such an abstract concept.
Realizing any argument or objection would fall on deaf ears, she exhaled deeply and forced her mind to focus on the heavy rock before her. Lifting her arm in its direction, she tapped into the Force and released the gradually building energy onto it.
The rock vibrated, then shifted about an inch to the left. That was as far her initial efforts got her, finding the huge boulder impossible to move beyond that point.
Rey's scowl deepened, her annoyance increasing at the same rate as her mounting struggle, fruitless as it was frustrating. Not one to give up easily, she tried again and again, her concentration steadfast on the massive object.
A steady drop of sweat began trailing down her temple, but Rey kept trying, refusing defeat, not yet ready to give up. Practice would get her there soon enough, she just needed to persevere until the rock gave way. It was simply a matter of time…
She could feel Ren's piercing stare on her back, making the task at hand all the more challenging. But that didn't deter her, she kept at it until exhaustion began to wear her out, fogging her mind and draining her body.
It was too difficult. She wasn't ready yet.
"It's too hard!" she finally heard herself say, much to her chagrin.
"You're not focusing!" he accused, his tone a mixture of exasperation and disappointment.
"I can't do it!"
"Yes, you can," he retorted. "You just don't know it yet."
Rey swiveled on her heels to face him with a furious stare. "Is that a fact?" she growled. "And, may I ask, how long did it take you to move a rock the size of a jumpspeeder?"
"You're making it more complicated than it really is," he told her darkly.
And, though he hid his frustration well, she could feel his temper burning red-hot inside him. Patience was obviously not one of his virtues, she thought. Not that he had many virtues as it was.
They stood facing each other for what seemed like an interminable moment, neither of them budging from their stubborn staring match. It was finally Kylo Ren who lowered his head, gazing at his dust layered boots for a second before meeting her eyes again.
"Okay, come over here," he said, his voice unusually kind.
Rey hesitated, not sure what he was asking of her. Ren didn't wait for her to obey his request, he grabbed her wrist and, pulling her closer, he stood behind her with his chest pressed against her back.
"What are you doing?" she asked, tense all of a sudden.
"Just relax," he said softly, trailing his hand down her arm and lifting it in the direction of the rock.
His proximity only managed to make her even more nervous. She tried to pull her arm back, but he held it firmly in place, while his free hand draped across her midriff to keep her still and preventing her from turning around. Rey heard him whisper an almost inaudible 'trust me' that, for the oddest of reasons, cast the desired spell on her.
She relaxed against him and, almost immediately, began to feel a faint humming, like a soundless melody surfing through her veins. It was a mild sensation at first, so feeble she believed it to be something her imagination was conjuring up. Soon, though, it increased to a steady vibration, making every single one of her nerve endings tingle and causing her drumming heartbeat to pick up speed. The sensation became gradually stronger as the electric charge of the Force rushed through her making her gasp. It was exhilarating, its raw power feeding every last cell inside her body, infusing her with an overwhelming surge of strength.
Rey saw the rock start its slow ascent, lifting off the ground as if it were weightless, hovering effortlessly over the rest. She could feel the connection between her fingertips and the massive object, now floating several feet above the base of the canyon. Ren directed her hand to the side and the rock followed suit, moving laterally in the direction they were commanding. She watched its flawless movement, completely enthralled and unable to hold back a smile.
The stimulating power of the Force was all around them, dark and light, together in perfect synergy. It went in crescendo and permeated their senses down to their very core. Breaths synchronized, hearts beating in tandem, they steadily fused into a single consciousness. It should have been terrifying, but Rey couldn't bring herself to be remotely concerned or afraid. And, impossible as it was to conceive, all that existed at one point was that surreal bond between them.
This is what it truly feels like…
Sharp agony suddenly pierced through her left side, right below the waist, and the spell was broken in an instant. Rey heard Ren's deep groan an instant before the crashing sound of the rock that dropped heavily onto the ground. Startled, she turned around to find him clutching his side, blood seeping through his fingers. It took her a second to realize that, what she had experienced a moment before, had been his physical pain; another second to discover the source of their abrupt interruption.
A group of tall, masked creatures fully covered in dirty, desert colored rags had sneaked up to them so silently, they had failed to notice their presence until it was too late. One of them had fired an archaic weapon that could have been mistaken for a bowcaster, had it not lacked in power and sophistication. Though it was clearly effective enough to rip through human flesh.
Kylo Ren furiously turned to his assailant, using the Force to capture the blaster that had just been used against him and thrusting its wielder against the wall of the canyon with enough strength to knock him out. The group, comprised of another eight or nine creatures, wasted no time aiming their weapons at them, but this time Ren was on alert, stopping what looked like a flock of handmade arrows in midair, while Rey grabbed the biggest rock she could get her hands on and hurled it at one of the creatures who was closing in on her, hitting it squarely on the head. Angered by their retaliation, the group advanced menacingly, circling around them, ready to engage in body to body combat. They were as big and bulky as Chewbacca, and ten times more intimidating.
The sound of Ren's saber crackled through their undecipherable chatter, causing them to stop for a moment. Rey's eyes traveled to the deep gash at his side, blood turning the black sash around his waist a shade darker. She tried to think of a way out, a distraction at the very least, but the clutter of thoughts crowding her mind made it impossible for her to think straight. If they could at the very least communicate with them in some way, or…
It was worth a shot.
Rey focused on the creature closer to her and spoke, her voice firm and steady:
"You will back away, and leave from where you came."
The group kept encroaching on them, unfazed. Perhaps the language barrier was affecting her power of persuasion, although she had a feeling the technique worked on a much deeper level than just bending the perception of the spoken word.
"You will back away, and leave from where you came," she repeated, anxiousness crawling into her tone as the creatures got closer.
"Forget it," Ren told her. "It doesn't work on them. They operate collectively."
"What does that mean?" she asked, backing into him.
Before he could answer, the group charged against them all at once. Kylo Ren swung his lightsaber, slicing one of them in half, and avoiding the sharp metal blade of a second creature who was armed with a Falchion sword. He swirled around, taking yet another one down, while Rey used high kicks and fists to fend off a particularly nasty member wielding a one-handed flail, its deadly spikes missing her shoulder by less than an inch. She managed to take him down, just barely, but was overpowered by a second creature who grabbed her in a bear hug from behind, successfully immobilizing her. An instant later, she felt her head being yanked back by the hair, and the cold blade of a sword pressed tightly against her jugular.
Kylo Ren froze the moment he became aware of the situation, and the canyon fell completely silent. The moment he stopped fighting, the group took a step back, as if to give him a choice to continue or surrender. Rey, on her part, kept struggling against her captor, as futile as her squirming was. She looked over at Ren, who stood panting before her, contrition and anger grabbing a hold of both of them.
Their eyes locked, an entire conversation exchanged in a fraction of a second.
The red glow of Ren's statically charged saber vanished and Rey closed her eyes in defeat. The creatures closed in on him, snatching the lightsaber and pushing him forward, prompting him to move westward along the canyon.
They walked for several long miles, losing track of time eventually. The only conversation heard was spoken in a foreign language neither of them could understand. Rey sent occasional glances Ren's way, noticing how he kept turning paler as they ambled along, his skin damp and clammy despite the fast dropping temperatures that came with dusk. And, for the first time since she had woken up on that deserted moon, she couldn't fathom facing whatever challenges awaited for her in that hostile place without him.
The implication of that realization made her loathe herself, and yet, denying the connection that appeared to be developing between them was downright ludicrous.
The twin suns had already set when they were practically shoved inside a grotto, where a series of cells held different creatures behind metal bars built right into the rock of the cavern. Their forms were illuminated by a row of fire lit torches along a short gallery. Some of the prisoners lay quietly in their cramped space, others curiously approached the bars to study the new arrivals, and some simply grunted or growled at them as they walked by. They were finally pushed into the last empty cell, the slam of the door as it shut closed behind them echoing loudly all over the grotto.
Rey sat on the ground next to Kylo Ren, who rested his head against the cold wall and clenched his jaw without saying a word.
"You've lost a lot of blood," she pointed out.
She tried to take a look at the open wound, but he weakly swatted her hand away. "I'll be fine!" he snarled.
"Famous last words!" she cajoled, annoyance eroding her patience.
He swallowed dryly a couple of times, eyes closed against the pain. Rey grabbed her canteen, relieved to find it still half full, and put it to his lips. Ren's eyes flashed open. He appeared to be mildly shocked, but exhaustion and thirst ended up getting the better of him, and he took several gulps of water, almost draining what was left inside the small canteen.
"Why do you want to help me, Scavenger?" he rasped, wincing as he shifted to face her. "Your life would be so much easier with me out of the picture..."
She hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "I need your help to get out of this place," she said avoiding his unwavering stare. "You're no use to me if you bleed to death."
The familiar words made him break into a tepid smile that led to a dry, half-hearted chuckle.
"I could try to heal you," she continued. "I can cauterize the wound the same way you did to my leg after the crash. I know I can do it. I just need your guidance."
Kylo Ren blinked tiredly, pondering on her offer as if it was something to be bartered, as if unwilling to take her help at face value. A faint nod of approval prompted Rey to get closer, pull down his sash, and inspect the wound under the faint light of the fire-lit torches. The rudimentary arrow had entered his lower back and pierced through his side, exiting right above his hipbone. She didn't know if there might have been any serious internal damage, but hoped his body would be able to heal itself once the bleeding stopped.
"Well, at least you'll be able to add another scar to your impressive collection," she quipped, pouring what was left of the water over the open flesh, causing a slight flinch from him. "Although, I imagine, after being hit by a bowcaster this is nothing more than an insect bite."
"That was…" he groaned when she brushed his soaked sash over the wound. "Adrenaline can be a powerful ally."
Yes. She supposed that night in the snow the ferocity of his movements must have stemmed from a combination of blatant stupidity, an insatiable thirst for revenge and an overload of adrenaline. The memory of that battle made her concern for him waver, a glimmer of hatred sneaking into her unhinged emotions.
Rey pushed away all negative thoughts and placed her hands over the exit wound on his abdomen.
"You are going to have to guide me through this…"
[TBC…]