Chapter 7


'I sense that our training here will be cut shorter than expected,' Luke said as they sparred the next day. Rey had removed the blindfold she had been wearing for the last two days and the difference was astonishing. Everything was brighter, her senses were stronger and even her reflexes were quicker.

They were working on Form II and Rey had finally moved onto the training Lightsaber. Though it was at a lower power setting than a normal Lightsaber, it still carried deadly force. She found that her own athletic capabilities suited the Form, which required a user to be fluid in their movements. Luke often described the Form as a dance between duellists and Rey had to agree.

They jumped apart, heavily breathing.

'So you will need to make a Lightsaber sooner than anticipated,' he added.

Luke went to attack again, but Rey was distracted by her elation and narrowly missed having her arm severely injured. He stopped and powered down his Lightsaber, his hands falling to his hips in disappointment.

'You are too easily distracted.'

Rey bowed deeply. 'I'm sorry Master.'

He sighed and clipped his Lightsaber to his belt. 'It will be the last thing you do before we leave, mostly because it requires several days of meditation and I would rather you do that on the ship than using precious time here.'

'I won't be hindered by using a training Lightsaber through the other Forms?' Rey questioned.

Luke shook his head. 'I hope that your ability to use a weaker Lightsaber will mean you will be that much more formidable with the power of a full-powered Lightsaber in your hands.' He held out his hand then, gesturing for Rey to pass him the training Lighsaber.

Powering it on the Lightsaber illuminated blue and Luke held it in front of him. 'We have been moving through the forms in order of my teaching them. Form I or Shii-Cho was the original form of all Jedi. One that was forged in balance, but simplistic and raw. Importantly, it's a form you would use against a great crowd rather than a single opponent wielding a Lightsaber.'

He began to move through the velocities without a partner, showcasing the Form to Rey. Luke seemed to move with the wind, his actions careful and deliberate, wide and deadly. 'This Form was about victory without injury and the challenge of not falling into its emotionally heated combat technique.' Luke stopped and looked to Rey. 'Lightsaber combat at its simplest and most natural.'

'One you favour?' Rey questioned, remembering Kylo's insulting words towards her master.

He smiled and shook his head. 'I would say I lean more towards Form V and perhaps utilising elements from Form IV and III. Though I assume you must think I favour Form I because I spent so much time on it?'

Rey nodded, a weak smile on her lips.

'I've had many students comment on the same thing. Form I is fundamental before you can move on to master any other.' Luke straightened up then and moved into an opening stance for Form II. He had taught her many more of the positions over the last several hours and Rey had made sure they were strongly secured in her memory. 'Form II or Makashi as we have talked through is the basic form of any master duellist. The key being to move as swift and smoothly as a blade of grass in the wind, to be able to dance; your Lightsaber your partner.' Luke moved swiftly but fluidly, ebbing and flowing in front of Rey as his moves were perfectly timed to coincide with another. 'In all it is a form of confidence. You are calm and fluid because you know and believe you will win.' He smiled then, 'I imagine this will not be your favoured form.'

As Luke moved, Rey followed his movements, trying to take mental notes so she could replicate the lightness in his steps and moves.

'Next, Form III or Soresu, which we will move onto when we finish your Control training. This is the form of resilience, the form Obi-Wan Kenobi used to win against my father when nobody else could. It's the pinnacle of defence against attackers and blasters and a form I've always found is perfect to partner with a more offensive form.' Luke showed Rey several defensive manoeuvres, the blade never slowing in his hands, constantly moving with him as if controlled by gravity alone. 'This, I consider, is the most valuable of forms because endurance may save your life one day.'

Rey nodded, enraptured by Luke's movements. He then easily flowed into the next, his arms executing brute strength as he slashed with the Lightsaber, so fast that Rey had to utilise her own sense abilities to catch every movement of its blade. He swung wide, throwing his body along with it and the acrobatics of Form IV that Rey had been learning were executed with perfection by her master. He jumped higher than humanly possible, moved in ways she knew were as a result of the Force and did not slow in his speed or power.

'Form IV, Ataru, is a powerful ally to have. Its sheer speed and strength means weaker opponents can be quickly overpowered. However, it is a form which requires a lot of energy. You are constantly moving, constantly using the Force and each strike has an implied deadliness to it. Any energy you can gain or muster is used as defence or offence. Even a kick to your stomach can be used to gain ground.' Luke stopped, dropping the Lightsaber to below his waist and he took several breaths. 'Alternative to utilising Form III with Form IV, many masters used Form III with Form V; Shien or Djem So, a difficult form requiring absolute strength in order to overpower your opponent. My father used this form and from what you have told me, I imagine Ben uses elements of it as well.'

Rey frowned and met her master's gaze. 'Is it perhaps one to be avoided, then?'

Luke, deciding not to showcase this form considered her. 'It is a form based on strength alone, the original technique of Shien was used to block blaster bolts, but Djem So; the later incarnation of it, became a powerful Lightsaber combat style, with aggression and domination being key. Perhaps to many Jedi of the past it could have been seen as corrupting, though as it can use an opponent's sheer strength against him, it is a valuable form to learn.'

She nodded and Luke stepped toward her, holding the Lightsaber out towards her as he powered it down.

'What of Form VI and VII?' Rey asked, taking the training Lightsaber from her master's hands.

'Niman is the culmination of the previous forms, very much utilising a dual blade fighting style, therefore I won't necessarily need to teach you it unless you wish it. Form VII, Juyo or Vaapad, however, I will not and cannot teach you. A form with total destruction in mind, favoured by the Sith of the past and requiring a user to revel in bloodshed. Though it is powerful because of its unpredictability, it is a gateway to darkness. I will tell you of it, but I will not teach you.'

Rey nodded and attached the Lightsaber to her own belt. Luke began to lead her away from their makeshift duelling area and sat her down, preparing for the days Force training. Rey's progress in vital Control and Sense abilities were going swiftly, though she was still far from moving onto Alter. He had warned her it was a big jump in skill and that she would need to be prepared to be mentally and physically exhausted.

Luke made no hints as to when Rey would move onto Form III, which Luke promised would occur after she had progressed far enough in her Control training. She thought she was at a high enough level, especially after the removal of the blindfold. Rey was wary to ask him however, especially considering he had told her that those who mastered Control and Sense abilities in the past would be padawans at the end of their apprenticeships. Jedi Knights even. There was a level of impatience in Rey and she knew that if she practiced enough, just like with Pyrokinesis she would be able to master it in a short time. Though she was reluctant to tell her master, she seemed to at least understand how to Force heal by her last encounter with Kylo.

Her mind went to him then. She could feel him thrumming in the corner of it, but unlike in the beginning, his emotions didn't seem to line up with hers. There were moments where she could feel him thrash out in frustration, sometimes she thought she felt his happiness too, but it no longer affected her waking moments.

She wondered what he was doing. Was he training? Perhaps he was in conference with his master?

Luke held out his hand then, passing her a sequence of objects so she could feel for an impression or trace of its origins. Rey found it incredibly easy. She guessed that because she had utilised psychometry when she had first touched Luke's Lightsaber, that her mind already knew how to replicate the action.

Touching a small broken piece of brick from Luke's hand, she could see the desert-like world of Tatooine and how much it mirrored Jakku. It was a piece of Luke's childhood home. The next remnant; a frayed wire, she saw it belonged to the old R2 unit that everyone on the rebel base seemed to speak animatedly about: R2-D2 who had woken to give them Luke's co-ordinates when they needed them most. Another object took a little longer for Rey. In her hands it felt like a broken piece of metal, tarnished and rusty, but as she turned it over between her fingers, she saw what it once was; an ornate hair pin belonging to General Leia.

When Rey opened her eyes Luke was smiling and he stood up, placing the objects in his pockets. 'I want you to spend your spare time practicing reaching for remnants. Through objects or even just through the Force. Meditate and reach as far as you can just like you have been, using every sense available to you.'

Rey nodded, standing and bowing to her master and unable to not replicate his expression. He walked away then and she sat back down, moving to continue her meditation until Luke was ready for their supper.

XxX

'You have found a new location?' Rey questioned. She was watching Kylo sharpen a knife against a sharpening wheel. Unlike before, she had not needed to search for him, but had opened her eyes to see an open door in front of her, leading to what seemed like a workshop. When she spoke his shoulders seemed to fall and he glanced towards her.

'Why are you here again?' he questioned.

She watched him carefully and he didn't seem changed. She was hoping to figure out why he had changed rooms just by looking at him and she could not.

'What does this room represent?' Rey asked, ignoring Kylo's futile question. Neither of them knew and they would just have to tolerate each other until further notice.

Kylo did not respond and continued to sharpen the knife. When Rey looked more closely, she could see his hands were bleeding; his fingertips torn and he didn't seem to pay much notice to the red covering the knife. Her feet seemed to lead her into the room until she was standing over him and he looked up at her. His eyes were strangely passive and Rey didn't know how to react to it.

'Does that not cause you pain?' she asked. There was a strange tightness to her voice and she swallowed, clearing her throat.

He glanced back down at the wheel and then back at her and then stood, towering over her, the knife in his bloody hands. Rey felt her heartbeat quicken with fear, not having seen his height in some time and not expecting his overbearing presence to return after days of being holed up in that cell, weak and injured.

'I can take you out of here,' she reminded him.

Kylo smirked and his brown eyes seemed to want to burn a hole into her forehead. 'You think too highly of yourself.'

He could smell it on her. The Force was flowing through and around her. She was stronger and nothing he did or said could deny that. Kylo imagined that if she concentrated enough, her abilities meant she could even reach across the galaxy. She'd done too much in his dreams alone, if she could heal his injuries, he knew she could do more, even heal his real wounds.

Rey smiled then and he dropped back a step. It wasn't wicked like it should have been; a smirk at one's enemy. It was warm and Kylo didn't like it. It was like a wall, built in order to stop him from being able to take advantage of her weaknesses. Not even the darkness could seep into the cracks between her lips.

'It's my intuition. If you let me, you won't have to be trapped in here anymore.'

'I'm not trapped here,' he responded quickly.

Kylo couldn't deny that a part of her proposal wasn't attractive. He couldn't remember when he had first dreamt of this hell house, though it had tormented him during every sleep until she had come into his dreams. He couldn't escape, he didn't know the layout and every room held some kind of horrid fear.

Even that room he first saw her in. It was just as bad as that torturous dungeon, where his skin was flayed and burned, where he dreamt the wounds without knowing where they came from and awoke in a cold sweat. In that first room where his desire could rear its head – it wasn't a choice. It was like being suffocated within his own mind, where this never-ending lust held no conclusion and seemed to painfully last for an eternity. He hated it the most because the image that thrashed beneath him – in faux pleasure or in faux pain; he had no idea – seemed to drink him in like a demon from hell. The more he let it go on the more he couldn't break free; and the more it seemed to have a hold on him. It meant that his involuntary celibacy in reality was more of a reminder of his nightmares of unfulfilled lust. It meant that even looking at this wisp of a girl in front of him caused him pain in his own mind. A pain that made him want to lash out and draw his hands around her throat as if it were her fault for making him feel as if he needed her to ease this burden of desire.

His eyelids stuttered at the idea of it. Perhaps his yearning would end then? Maybe he could utilise her and at the very least poison her with his own toxicity? Truly corrupt her for his own good despite saying it was for hers this whole time.

'Why are you so interested in leaving this place?' Kylo asked, a weak smirk appearing on his lips as he put the knife down on a nearby table. 'Is this part of your plan to bring me to the light?'

Rey blinked up at him. 'I know you don't want to be here,' she answered simply.

'Now how do you know that?'

She grinned then. 'Are you unaware of just how much I can see into your emotions? Your thoughts?'

Kylo was wary to believe her. She was a novice and even he could not see that far into her heart. He could only grasp the nuance and it was like smoke, passing quickly through his fingers and into the sky, leaving only a remnant behind.

'Do you expect me to fall into your words so easily?'

Rey nodded. 'I expect you to fall into my words, into my way of thinking and especially into my plans.'

She took his hand then and Kylo tried to pull his away, but she held strongly onto his fingers, smearing his blood across hers and causing the small wounds to sting. Very few seconds passed and the pain was gone, replaced by the warm feeling of her hands, just blood left to indicate why she was holding onto his.

'Am I not convincing? Is this not enough to sway you?'

He finally pulled his hands away and stared resolutely at Rey. 'You should be careful. I think you see your constancy to being good; to being pure as resolute and unconquerable. You might think I'm weak and that my humanity, or even my being male is enough to convince me to come to you; as if you can pull me to you through your half-baked seduction, but you'd be wrong. You're more likely to make a mistake as someone with no experience.'

Rey's face quickly fell and her discomfort was clear to Kylo, but he continued to smirk and his aura lingered around her, heavy and overbearing. He moved towards her then, his head moving past her and his lips went to her ear.

'Your virginity is a weakness in itself,' he whispered to her.

She shirked away, trying to move away from him, but this time Kylo grabbed onto her hand and she could feel his warm breath against her neck. 'Do you really think you can go against me in this department?' he questioned. 'When you have this routine of lust having no place in the light, but you still try to seduce me? What if I seduce you? What if I even just try?' he asked.

'No, don't,' Rey said quickly and realised her weakness just by the words falling from her mouth. She was supposed to show a strong front, but she only looked like she couldn't stand two minutes in his close proximity.

Kylo laughed then and let go of her. 'It's difficult to force a rejection to something that is human nature. At least if you came to me, you wouldn't have to fight it anymore.'

Rey hated the implication in itself. That it wasn't just that he wanted her to come to him and fight for the dark, but have it fuelled by this animalistic pull. As if human nature was for him to take her and for her to want that to happen.

'I would rather be torn limb from limb, slowly and over the course of a week than allow that to happen,' she replied sharply.

He smiled, liking that answer greatly. 'All just empty words to me.'

She breathed through her nose and then there was a twinkle in her eye. 'Well one of us has to win, don't they? I think you've just made me realise that there won't be any niceties about it and this will be a fight.'

Kylo was ready to question her, to even agree with her to some extent, but then Rey took his hand and she pulled him with such strength, that he knew she had to have been utilising the Force. Then they weren't in the original room anymore. With a blink they were in a small ready-room; one that resembled what his mother used to use. The place where she sat him on her lap to show him the movements of the rebel forces, where she fed him sweet foods and drew her fingers through his curls. It was dark and horrible here, though. There were no lights; blood and claw marks covered the walls, the strategy table was scattered with years of dirt, dust and dried blood. It smelled of wood rot and vines grew in every crevice possible, twining themselves around whatever they could and squeezing until chair legs snapped, tiles cracked and cupboards fell apart.

Rey could see the panic in his eyes. She could feel it encompass the whole dream world and it tried to suffocate her with his dread. This room held importance to him. Then she noted that his hand had tightened unconsciously in her own, not letting go like he should have, but squeezing until his nails cut into her skin. She held back a yelp and just watched him, feeling for his emotions like Master Luke had taught her, trying to read him despite in reality him being millions of miles away.

Then there was the sound of shuffling and a chair behind a large desk moved and a small raven-haired child crawled from it, his eyes full of tears. Once he looked at them, he cried, screamed even.

Kylo just stared at the child, not able to move or speak. Rey looked to the child and he began to howl for his mummy. She managed to slip from Kylo's grip, feeling her skin tear beneath his nails and she knelt by the child.

She tried to calm him by touch; her thoughts of this being Kylo's dream astray and her concentration on the small child. He must have been no more than three years old. Rey tried to hush him and he looked up at her with wide eyes.

'Mummy?' he questioned.

Rey looked at Kylo over her shoulder and he was still frozen.

'What's your name?' she asked the child.

He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and then mumbled.

Rey asked again, holding the child's hand. He looked down, seeing the scratches Kylo had caused and his other hand reached over, running his finger over the marks until they were gone. 'Ben,' he answered.

She felt her arm being pulled then and the child disappeared as Kylo yanked her hard enough to pull her arm from its socket.

She had got him, though. He could not make her forget what she had seen, where she was and that this was one more secret that she had gained, one more point that went to her.

'Get out,' he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Rey didn't move, though. She could feel his rage building, but it merely masked his pain; pain which was far different from the physical, and she knew it very well, so well that she might have mistaken it for her own if she couldn't see Kylo falling apart in front of her.

Then he was pushing her to the floor. 'Get out,' he screamed.

There was a part of her, as she looked at him, that wanted to comfort him in some way. To perhaps think of some choice words that would reduce his bitterness, but none came. Rey could only watch him as he seemed to break apart in front of her. The last thing she saw before she woke was him reaching to destroy anything he could get his hands on, and she woke up with the sun peeking through a small crack in the ceiling and illuminating the room, and her hands tightly wound into silent fists.


Sorry for the delay, I had so much uni work :3

Thanks for reading ;)