Lítost (n.) the state of agony or torment; sorry said to be created by the site of one's own misery or torment.

The vision was like a half-remembered dream. The boy, the dark room. Something familiar yet off about the surroundings. The voice from nowhere, bidding the child. Rey couldn't help but feel a creeping sensation up her spine, and she awoke with a sense of disorientation. Something had shifted.

She awoke with a nagging, burning pain in her head, squinting as he shivered in her scrap of a bed aboard Luke's modest vessel. But that sense hadn't faded. That connection hadn't broken. Not entirely. The faint thrum of it rang through the back of her mind, despite the pain as he head ached.

Rey rejoined the pilot as she saw them flying through eons of space. Most of it had been relatively uncharted, desolate from help and hurt. But no place better to disappear.

"Are you ill, Rey?"

"No, Master Luke… just a headache." She laid her head back, as she sat in the seat. "Not something I've had in a while."

"The dream, again?"

"No." She responded. "At least, not the same. No anger this time."

Luke simply nodded. While most would have found the Jedi's mannerisms, bred from a long time in isolation, to be difficult, Rey understood solitude. But she wasn't convinced at him being satisfied with her answer. She was able to feel the energy outline of his feelings, and she could sense that he'd picked up on her hesitation, her confusion. The sadness…

"Luke… I .. I think you need to tell me what happened."

He shook his head. "Now is not the time, Rey."

"When will it be? No one will speak to me about it. Leia was distraught, and all I got from Threepio was 'So terribly sorry, that's classified I'm afraid'."

Luke flinched slightly at the mention of his twin sister. The memory had been painful for them all. Her son's actions had wedged a rift between the siblings, perhaps irreparably so. And nothing had been done to heal them. Rey wanted to ask more questions, pursue the topic, but until they were on solid ground again, she decided to let it be. She wordlessly got up, greeting Artoo, before heading to the nutrient stores to get herself something to eat and drink. Mindlessly, she thumbed the hardrive that had once held the missing piece to finding Luke. Leia had gifted it to her after her departure, after making copies for their own records. Even with the last piece, Leia had not felt up to meeting her brother. After all that had happened...

"The connection… you say it began in the interrogation."

"Yes Supreme Leader." His voice is now muffled behind a new mask, graveled, guarded. He feels safer this way. "I found something novel in her mind, and when I diverted my attention, I hit the barrier. There was a reaching then, and she was able to see my mind."

"This must be handled carefully.. but I think it can be to our great benefit."

Ren sensed that Snoke was most keen on finding the scavenger. Though the girl stayed on both of their minds, Ren could attune a different influence as far as Snoke's perception of her. The thoughts crept into his head that had not plagued him for many years. That had not plagued him since working with the old Jedi, or failing to live up to his father's expectations. He mulled on this, not wanting to give it his attention, and the misdirection caught Snoke's attentions.

"Ah.. my apprentice. Your thoughts betray you." The thin voice was almost amused. "You are still the most talented of my apprentices. Make sure you keep it that way."

He felt his cheeks burn, ashamed of dwelling on the thought that Rey was more powerful than he. It had not been an even match between them, with her untrained, unruly skills and keeping his body together through sheer willpower, trying to reach her, not kill her. He couldn't help but admit her strength, but he was eager to prove he could get ahead of her. He could beat her. The resolve tempered, and he grounded himself. He must find her. He must prove his strength. Whether to kill or subdue her, he must maintain his role. With a steely glint in his dark eyes, he gazed back at Snoke, his attention undivided.

"Then I will find her. Show me the way, Supreme Leader, and I will take her."

Wherever they had landed was nothing like Jakku. Similar more, to Takoda, but she doubted it was one in the same. The trees stretched higher than she'd ever seen, and a cool chill enveloped them, not unlike the cool ocean-stable climate of lonely outpost that housed the first Jedi Temple.

Luke sat astride the speeder. He seemed concerned, uncertain, but largely masked otherwise. "I must attend to some things, not far from here. It would be best if you stayed close to the ship. Keep an eye out, and keep your mind guarded."

Before she could protest, the hooded figure disappeared, and Rey felt that sinking sensation, that she was to be left alone once more, unsure of whether or not he would return. The sting of being left on Jakku would never be relieved. It was a vulnerability that only Finn had seemed to overcome.

Rey slumped, leaning against the cool metal. The small amount of exposed skin on her neck tingling with a shiver, she tried to carefully construct an inner barrier, but remain open enough to the outside sounds of her surroundings. The glancing memory had led her thoughts astray, as she thought of Finn, not knowing how his recovery had been. She had heard no word of him, no word from the Rebellion at all. It gave her a hollow feeling, sinking into the familiar emptiness of the ruined AT-AT, with the countless marks, the constant vigilance. The empty wasteland of the Graveyard and the empty sandy plains.

Loneliness…

The sensation crept into her psyche so quietly, she'd hardly noticed it, until it had grown, eating away at the edges of her barriers. Insecurity poured into her, a more foreign emotion for Rey. But compounded with the thing that had made her most fearful, she found herself drowning in the sudden intensity of the helpless sensation. She sunk to the dirt, tears beginning to stream down the sides of her face. She wanted someone to reach out, like Finn had done, like Han had done, to offer her a place in their life. The receptivity allowed that familiar ripple to pervade, a trickle at first. A familiarity. She reached back toward it, begging internally for it to recognize her back.

It connected.

The flood of emotions hit her like a wave, awash with the sensation of regret, curiosity. Fear. The fear, seemed to underlie it all. Rey tried to parse it, her mind filtering what was happening, and she realized this was not supposed to be. She tried to shut it down now, but she had allowed in too much of the awareness to pervade her senses, and she began to feel a tinge of physical pain.

No, no , no…

She could see him standing above her. This was his projection? She could not be sure. But he bore into her eyes with his black pupils, his face shown freely, a more intimate visage than she'd known. It twisted from the dark enemy, the face of the murderer, to the softer contours of his face, his eyes staying the same. She felt herself being ripped in two, her mind struggling to return to reality, to push back against his insecurity, his fear. But something else simmered under the surface, and it spilled into her, a gentler sensation, succulent. She sought it out, until it changed, the soft impression sharpened, now white-hot. Pain, she felt it. He was in pain.

He shifted again, now no longer a man, the mystery never fully realized, as he descended upon her, and she felt herself fall to the ground… he was going to hurt her, he wanted her… and she would not let him. She would not be his pawn. The anger welled up within her, the source from her own heart, spilling back at him. Her mind found its resolve, she wrenched herself forward, moving up and through him, splitting him in half, as he disappeared into shadow. Laughter…

NOOOO!

She gasped for air, gulping the humid surroundings, as she felt the searing pain, now reduced to a simmer. A real, physical pain ached from the back of her head, and she drew back to find herself bleeding. Her heart was racing. This was even worse than the first time.

Now she no longer felt the need for companionship. Anyone who was with her would almost certainly be destroyed. Even a Jedi, would not withstand whatever force they brought forth. Perhaps her sacrifice could allow Luke to start again, divert the First Order's attentions as they sought her out. She could buy them time. She tried to formulate a plan… thoughts bouncing between each other.

She hurried into the small craft, and set the sequences. It would be better.. if no one knew where she was. No one could be hurt that way. She felt a small part of herself wither, the tears still wet on her face, as the shuttle lifted, soaring into the air.

I'm sorry Master Luke.