Ossus Part 2

Author's note: Very niche reference to Clone Wars if anyone can spot it. Smut will be back in two chapters.

The small village of Vittorians, as they were called, had taken one look at Ren and rushed to help even if they had been afraid of the tall black-clad figures of Phasma and Hux as they appeared from the mud pit below. The inhabitants were an odd group, strangely pallid, with large bulbous eyes and slow-moving bodies. They reminded Avin of white frogs her mother had kept in the large pound in the grounds of their Naboo Mansion. These were one of the convergent species of the planet who, like her world of Naboo, had multiple cognate species living in separate societies. While the Jedi had claimed this planet as the home for their Great Library, these species existed here as well. The Vittorians typically served as slaves of the larger, stronger violent humanoid species which the Jedi had called the Nidavellir. This had been kept in check during the Jedi's time on the planet according to the accounts she read but most likely things had changed significantly since then. They had been lucky to stumble on the peaceful Vittorians, they might not still be wearing their skin if the others caught them with Kylo Ren incapacitated. The village was arranged on a gently sloping hill above the thick forest they had just left, with low lying domes of uneven grey stone arranged in concentric circles.

Two female presenting Vittorians directed Avin and Phasma to a clean water source slightly out of viewing from the village to wash. Avin nearly ripped her clothes off to get away from the horrible odour of sweat, melted shipware and mud. Now clean, she stood by an already lit campfire in a coarse beige blanket as the women passed her and Phasma some kind of stew which thankfully had very little taste. Hux joined the campfire as they finished eating. Without gel his red hair fell loosely on his forehead and a pale fuzz was visible on his chin in the fading light of the day.

"What I don't understand is how Ren was the only one injured." Avin admitted now that she had regained her humanity.

"Surely you aren't serious?" He said, looking into her face. "Ren protected us with his powers. We would be dead otherwise."

His sharp voice had immediately put the group on edge and smaller Vittorians scampered away from the campfire from fear. She leaned towards him.

"We need these people to show us the Library ruins." She whispered in his ear. "We need them to like us."

The pale face of Phasma appeared suddenly beside her. "What are we whispering about?" she said, conspiratorially. Away from the Finalizer, Phasma's perfectly coiffed hair was standing in all directions in a way which had been threatening to verge on the comical at any moment.

"Hux and I are plotting." Avin whispered, back to good spirits now that she had a full stomach. "We only have two days left and I want to make the most of it."

"We cannot leave without Lord Ren." Phasma said staunchly, glancing around at the smaller species around her. Hux heaved a very heavy sigh.

"I sadly have to agree. We must wait for Ren. If landing in hostile environments has taught me anything it is, sadly, that Ren is a valuable tool for not being killed." Hux said, nodding at Phasma.

Avin walked towards the group of Vittorians with hands out in what she hoped was a universal gesture of goodwill. "We need your help. We are looking for a guide." She said, smiling brightly at the group. They visibly relaxed and a medium height male shuffled out to meet her.

"I am sorry, stranger. We do not venture past the hills or forest. It is not safe." He said slowly.

"But we-"

"We cannot help you." The male said sadly, turning up his hands in a gesture of defeat. She decided quickly not to push and walked away from the campfire. Feeling bad for suggesting they abandon Ren, Avin made her way down to the Healer's hut. She crept into the small domed house to check on Kylo's recovery, his head wound being stitched and cleaned hours ago. He was awake, staring straight up at the ceiling. He tried and failed to get up when she entered, and she walked swiftly to him.

"Don't move. You've been badly injured."

"I know that." He said through clenched teeth. His pale face seemed oddly vulnerable in the small hut. "What happened?"

"Sabotage, Hux thinks. We have a traitor onboard it seems."

"Of course, we do." He said, sounding tired.

"Kylo, did you… did you protect us during the crash?" she asked, genuinely curious.

There was a silence as Kylo recommenced his glare up at the dark, uneven stone of the dome ceiling. She sat down by his side and wrung out the wet cloth resting in a basin beside him, moving to wipe away the blood and dirt the healer had not bothered to tidy up. He flinched.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, whipping his head away.

"Cleaning off the blood in your hair. Hold still." She said impatiently and pulled him back towards her. He went back to staring up at the ceiling like it had personally offended him.

"I'm trying to persuade our rescuers to bring us to the Jedi Library." She informed him, dipping the fabric into a close bowl of water to get rid of the excess blood.

"Good for you." He said sardonically, his expressive face drawn into a vivid frown. Avin now understood what the mask was for. She decided to ask him the question she had been pondering since they agreed on the mission to go to Ossus.

"Re-Kylo. Why do you hate this planet?" she said softly, wiping away stiff blood where it had matted just above his ear. She continued to do so while the silence stretched out and just as she assumed she would never get an answer he shifted on the pallet.

"My old master tried to kill me. On this planet. I did not want to return."

She stayed silent. This was the very last thing she expected to hear.

"The Supreme Leader wanted to test me by sending me back here. To see that I could resist the call of the light."

Avin had absolutely no idea what he was talking about but nodded sympathetically anyway.

"Well. If you want someone to talk to, I am here." She said, something her father had said to her many times through the years. She couldn't believe she was saying this to Lord Ren of all people. He glanced at her, very oddly, and Avin had the strange sensation that two people were staring at her from one face. In a flash it was gone, and he waved her away, turning on his side away from her. She stood up and left, neatly avoiding a stalking Hux who was clearly looking for her amongst the domes.

She joined the fireside again where Phasma currently sat, looking huge compared to the small frames of the Vittorian people. Hux joined them at the fire and stood close to Avin, brushing her hand with his.

"Please, join us." the previous Vittorian speaker said warmly, gesturing to empty seats near Phasma.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality." Hux said gently to what they now assumed to be the leader of the group. "You have taken great care of our dear friend."

Avin considered this act as putting it on a little thick, but the Vittorian male smiled and other members of the group pulled up seats, now put at ease by whatever character Hux was currently playing. His whole body language had changed, back loose and smile wide as he chatted with the group.

She took a seat and a Vittorian passed a full skein of something to her, encouraging her to drink. She took a small mouthful of an extremely alcoholic wine and choked it down. She quickly passed it to Hux who also took a generous swig and barely made a face.

"Sir?" Phasma asked, as he passed her a drink, clearly not catching on.

"Sir?" the Vittorian male asked sharply, looking slightly alarmed.

"Don't mind our friend Phasma. She is extremely polite to all in company. Aren't you Phassy?"

Phassy looked like she wanted to punch something.

"Why do you want to know about the Jedi?" the Vittorian male asked Avin.

"Well." She started, thinking furiously. "The Jedi are a force of good in the universe. We want to teach everyone about love and hope, as the Jedi did once upon a time."

"Love is the greatest power in the universe." The Guide said earnestly and Avin saw Phasma throw him a look of disgust.

"So" Avin said conversationally, her hands clutched around the skein he offered her again. "Have you ever been in love?"

Her group as one flashed their heads towards her, extremely annoyed that she would bait him to talk. Avin knew they needed this guy on their good side and she flashed a warning look around her party quickly.

"Yes. A very long time ago. She was a great healer." He said wistfully. He looked at her again. "And you?"

"Yes. I did have a husband." She said, inflecting down. He leaned in to hear more and she knew she had him. "He was a great teacher on another planet very far away. He died suddenly. Its why we're here."

The group looked between each other, Phasma making a face so confused it was almost comical. She continued for the Vittorian, opening her eyes wide so they would dry out and tear up.

"He – he was studying old Jedi texts you see, to spread their message. It was his life's passion. When he got ill, he couldn't travel anymore. My friends and I decided to finish his work. This Jedi Archive is the last one."

There was a silence as the Vittorian male thought about this. He turned to the rest of the group.

"Have you ever been in love?"

"Yes." Hux said magnanimously, playing up his character.

"Tell me about her."

"Well." He floundered for a moment and then pulled the mask back down. "She's also a healer."

"How lovely."

"Yes. I miss her terribly." He confessed and the guide spurned him on to continue. "We've known each other since we were very young, and we have spent little time apart. But she knew just how important this journey was to Avin."

"Young love. Where did you meet?" the Vittorian male asked, indulgently. Avin passed the skein to Hux, and he took a brave swig. Hux opened his mouth and clearly blanked, already a little drunk on the wine.

"They were training to be dancers." Avin prompted and smiled at him. "He has all told us this story many times."

Hux loathed dancing with his entire being.

The Vittorian male shifted in his seat slightly, clearly basking in the comfort of the fire's glow. He seemed to pick up another thought again. "Jedi Archives?" he said, encouragingly. "It would look like this." She said and grabbed some of the charcoal from the fire and sketch a rough drawing of a huge door on a low flat rock beside her. The Guide looked over her shoulder and made a noise of recognition. He contemplated them all solemnly.

"Very well. It is dangerous but I will guide you." He said, smiling kindly back at her. She glanced at Hux to see the cold, cruel smirk on his face made even crueller by the dancing shadows of the fire.

In the morning, with Ren well enough to travel, they set off with their Guide and provisions. The Guide had told them his name but none of them had bothered to remember it as they trekked towards the old Jedi temple. The group were back on track for their mission, somewhat, and that was all that mattered. They had been walking for many hours at a pace set by the Guide up along purple and yellow moss-covered hillside. The sun dipped down covering the hills with looming shadows, and winged creatures swooped over the hilltop catching buzzing insects in their mouths before careening away into the gathering dark. It would have been pleasant if they didn't all still reek, the village only able to wash out some of the noxious mud that stained their clothes. At the top of one large hill the Guide pronounced them close to the Library and Avin looked excitedly over the plateau ahead of them to an oddly shaped structure in the distance.

They made their way across the flat grassy plain quietly, as the Guide led them to the blocky entrance of the old Jedi Archives, a huge, ruined door carved into a cliffside.

"Thank you once again for taking us." Avin said earnestly, relieved to finally be back on mission.

"I wouldn't normally go out this way, but a traveller like yourselves passed through here several months ago. We guided him, like you, and it was safe."

"What was his name?" Ren said sharply.

"Wh- well his name was Lor San Tekka. He was looking for something - a map. Do you know him?"

"Did he find it?" Ren asked, stalking towards the man and getting right into his face. The Guide flinched and stammered.

"Well, yes he did- "

Avin saw a look pass between Ren, Hux and Phasma. With no hesitation, Phasma pulled her blaster from her hip and shot the Guide in the back of the head. Avin flinched but said nothing. Poor frog, she thought, as they made their way to the large ancient doors. Ren ran up the stairs and pulled the heavy doors open with the Force, flinching as his injury still clearly troubled him. They all silently followed him in.

"I know where the map is." Ren said, surging forward through the ancient hallways of the Great Library. "We have time to search for holocrons, but we have what we want. Finally."

They walked on a slight incline for a mile or so. The walls of the Library were a yellowed sandstone, etching and drawings done during the Jedi's reign lost to time. They were all somewhat amazed when a flipped switch threw up yellowing luminescent lights all along the walls, making it easier to see in the close darkness. They finally came to a turning point, two closed doors pointing in separate directions in an open landing, with natural daylight streaming down from outside. The air felt fresher than it had in many hours.

"Which way do we go, sir?" Phasma asked, turning to Hux for direction.

"Clearly, we go to the right." He pronounced, one foot on a fallen brick. The heat had been slowly growing as they descended, and it was making it hard for Avin to think straight.

"Why clearly?" Avin said, her brow furrowing.

"Because I said so." Hux gritted out, sweat standing on his brow and upper lip. He slapped on an ancient door switch and the door slid open. Avin strode forward and opened the other one which led into what looked like an identical passageway.

"Let's ask Ren to use the Force to- "

"We are going to the right. Avin, do what you're told." Hux snapped and slammed the door she had just open closed.

Ren and Phasma were watching this heated exchange silently and their refusal to take a side just made Avin angrier. She stomped forward and opened the door again.

"I got us to this Library." She snapped back.

"And I managed to save you from killing yourself every five seconds since we landed." He snarled back at her.

"You arrogant, pig-headed- "she stopped.

Dust was falling from the ceiling and a low groaning sound quickly became horribly loud. The light from the open space above them was blocked as boulders were and fell towards them. She looked across at Hux and Phasma just in time to see their faces twist with fear before they were blocked by the falling rubble.

"No, Armitage!" she screamed as Ren picked her up around the waist to pull her away from the falling rocks. She screamed and kicked against him. The rumbling finally stopped. The hallway was completely blocked and Avin couldn't hear anything from the other side. They had no way of knowing if Hux and Phasma had survived.

"There is nothing to do but to continue looking for those holocrons." Ren said coldly, dusting off his black clothes.

She bit back wave after wave of tears as they continued forward. Hux could be dead or dying somewhere and she would never know. The last thing she said to her childhood friend was an insult. They had been walking for hours, downwards and curved to the right and Avin was starting to feel very hungry without the rations Phasma was holding. Ren paused suddenly in the corridor, homing in on a small crack in the wall. He smashed his hand into the crack and pulled out a large thick grub which he contemplated for a moment before stuffing in his mouth. He stuffed his fingers back in the hole and pulled out a long centipede which he offered to her.

"What are you doing?" she shouted, horrified.

"Its all protein." He said, shrugging in a way which was distinctly un-Ren like. She stared for a second before throwing back her head to laugh in surprise.

"That is truly disgusting." she grinned at him, and he frowned back. The untouched centipede was munched on thoughtfully by Ren as they continued to descend. As they walked together through the dark tunnel, he was clearly warring with himself.

"What we did on Ryloth. It did not… shame you?" she looked at him quizzically.

"No. Did it shame you?" she asked, genuinely curious. He worked to school the expression on his face, but like waves on a lake the ugly emotions of shame, guilt, lust and regret rippled there.

"Through passion I gain strength." He said eventually, setting his face back into the haughty line he tried to maintain as default.

"I know there is no love between us," she said easily, sensing it to be true. "But we could still be fr- "

"The Sith do not have friends." He interrupted, fighting and losing a battle with his own temper. She was slowly learning to read the words unsaid.

"Well. I would be honoured to not be friends with you." She said and was about to open her mouth to say more before she paused. She could hear… voices. She ran towards the sound into a huge central cavern lit by more of the oddly phosphorescent lights perched haphazardly around the walls. The cavern looked like roughly hewn rock rather than the smooth lines they had been seen before. Phasma and Hux had arrived from another direction into the same cavern, she had been hearing their voices echoing along the walls.

"Arm, you're okay." She said, running to him, and a strong relief crashed over as she let go of a horrible tension, she was not aware of before. Without thinking she pulled him into a hug which he did not return. He looked down at her silently and turned to glare at Kylo.

"Did he hurt you?" he said possessively, looking her over.

Phasma moved to another exit and one of the stones underneath clicked down in a way that Avin did not like. Ancient machinery behind the cavern walls whirred around them all deafeningly and then so fast she barely saw it all the cavern exits slammed shut so tight it was like they had never existed. The cavern was plunged into darkness and slowly came back to life by a phosphorescent light source.

"No!" Ren snarled.

He pulled his lightsaber from his belt and it flared to life. Avin had never seen the angry red blade before. He hacked and slashed at the smooth walls, the saber making black scorch marks on the yellow rock. There was no other effect. Still shouting she saw him reach out his arm like he had to pull the heavy doors back. There was no effect. Tiring himself he stood in the centre of the room, blade still drawn and humming, while his shoulders heaved from his physical efforts.

"The Finalizer may not be able to find us under so much rock." Hux said quietly, looking up towards the ceiling. His green eyes looked strange. He looked frightened.

"We need a way to blast through this heavy rock, to re-open the doors." She said.

"Oh, I suppose your knowledge of several musical instruments is supposed to help us here, is it." Hux shot back.

"Listen to me, you cretin- "Avin began, picking right up from where they left off before the landslide.

"Silence!" Ren roared. They stopped and stared at him. "You two have not shut up since we landed on this shithole of a planet." The whites of his eyes were showing, and he was breathing heavily. Ren had totally lost it. Phasma stood beside him, arms folded.

"If you two don't shut the fuck up right now. Right now. I will kill you both!" he shouted; fists clamped at his side. Avin and Hux stood frozen, glancing quickly at each other. Avin went to open her mouth.

"Don't." Ren yelled, pointed a shaking finger in her face. "Don't even think about it Avin."

She put her hands up in surrender and walked towards one of the walls to give them an illusion of space. Now that she wasn't arguing with Hux she went back over all the possible ways they could escape, it took her sometime to accept that they were trapped.

They all sat together on the floor, huddled around the small fire Phasma had made from the wooden furniture left in the room. She had smashed and snapped priceless antiques with gusto to fuel the heat of the rapidly cooling room. Fire lit, Phasma was sitting upright, staring into the flames. The light was flaring over her skin and her eyes looked deeper and darker than they ever had before.

"I was in love. Once." She muttered as if they were still having that awkward conversation with the Guide, more to herself than the group. "He died when Brendol Hux bombarded Parnassos. He died… but I lived."

The spitting, crackling of the fire was the only sound for a long time.

"At night. I dream of sand dunes. A deep loneliness that is not mine." Kylo admitted, frowning into the fire. Of course, Ren would bring in the mystical nonsense Avin thought. She heard Hux beside shift slightly. Oh no, she thought, and snapped her head forward, determined not to look at him.

"I was engaged to be married. Once. I was young and foolish. At great cost I persuaded …my father… to secure a First Order posting for a civilian and received permission to keep the civilian with me aboard the Mordant. "He paused. "It came to nothing. I looked weak and stupid" he said bitterly.

Ren and Phasma as one silently looked at Avin as Hux continued to glare into the flames.

"Is it my turn?" she asked sardonically. They sat in silence. She finally gave in, but she refused to mention Hux.

"My parents died in errant airstrikes from the New Republic in search of terrorists. The last thing they did was tell me they loved me." She said softly. They all stared into the fire until it died down, haunted by their pasts. Eventually she lay down to sleep, with her arms as her pillow, in what might be her final resting place.

Avin was woken up by a strong jostling of her shoulder. She blinked awake to find Kylo, Phasma and Hux all staring up at the high peak of the ceiling. From this, she could hear movement and what sounded like men's voices calling. The ceiling was not just a ceiling, but a movable slab and that slab was moved slowly, drawing more and more light into the enclosed space. Avin had never been more grateful to feel the heat of the sun as light moved towards them. A head seemed to poke out of the now open hole. There was an odd, choked sound to Avin's left in time for her to see some kind of dart enter Phasma's neck. She collapsed as did Ren seconds later. She felt a sharp stab to her own neck and fell into unconsciousness.