The world was soft and warm, there were two strong arms wrapped around her, and Rey didn't want to open her eyes. Despite doing her best to cling to the last vestiges of sleep that hung around her, her slumber slowly faded away and she was forced to come back to the conscious world. Peeking out of one eye begrudgingly, the sight that met her made Rey pop her head up abruptly. She was sitting cradled in Kylo's lap, submerged in the bath, while Kylo himself was dozing off, his arms still tightly holding her to his chest; her movements roused him slightly, and, without opening his eyes, he sleepily leaned forward to kiss her forehead before returning to his relaxed position. "How did I get out here?" she asked finally, allowing him to pull her back down to him again. He laughed and tucked a damp tendril of hair behind her ear "We slept for almost a whole day; I woke up a few hours ago and carried you out here, I'm surprised you're only now waking up." She groaned "It feels like I've been in a coma, I'm not entirely sure that I'm not still sleeping."
Resting his chin on the crown of her head, he nodded, gently twisting a finger into her steam-induced curls "Well you'd better decide to wake up, we've spent enough time in bed, it's time to get back to your training." "Oh is it?" she murmured against his damp skin "And what will you be teaching me today, lord Ren?" His chest heaved against her head a little with the sarcastic snort he let out at the formality of the title "Lord Ren? Where was that kind of respect when you were hurling energy balls at my chest?" he grumbled. The giggle Rey had at the memory of how he had gone flying backward when she had blasted him ended in a shiver as she remembered what had directly followed "I think you earned it soon afterward." she remarked with a nervous laugh before quickly changing the subject "Anyway, you were going to tell me what kind of training you're going to subject me to today, what is it?" He sat up and wiped a hand across his eyes; Rey immediately noticed that he had returned to his glowing snake like eyes, and even though they were still unnerving to look at, she found that they weren't nearly as intimidating as they'd been before. "I think it's time to teach you to defend yourself; you can't learn killing or maiming curses, because you're too far on the light side of the magical spectrum, but with those blasts of light and some practice of actual combat techniques, you could very easily protect yourself when you're on your own."
"You'd actually let me go somewhere on my own?" Rey asked with feigned incredulity "I thought I lived in your bed now and I 'belong' to you" Kylo rolled his eyes and laid a large wet hand across her face, covering her eyes and smothering her laughter "You're lucky I'm teaching you at all, you're a pain in the ass" he grumbled as she sputtered against his hand, simultaneously laughing and protesting the encumbrance. She finally pried his hand from her face and wiggled around on his lap until she was facing him, she then threw her arms around his neck and rolled her weight to the side as hard as she could, attempting to throw him off balance and push him under the water while yelling "Just teach me right now!" Despite being taken by surprise, Kylo would not be so easily subdued; he immediately tightened his grip on her waist and, using her forward motion, merely stood up, hauling her with him in the process. He stood there for a moment holding her up, her limbs flailing awkwardly, before unceremoniously dropping her into the water.
"It's a good thing you're feeling feisty today, you'll need all of that energy" he stood there, arms crossed over his chest, smirking down at her in a way that made Rey want to kneel at his feet and-"Ugh"-she shook the salacious thoughts from her mind; she needed to focus on getting in the mindset for training and not dwelling on all the things she'd like to do to that beautiful body of his. Rey checked herself- wasn't that EXACTLY what was involved in getting in the mindset to use her power? She was pretty sure that he had told her to embrace those feelings instead of suppressing them, that was the key to making her power work. Smiling to herself, Rey climbed out of the bath and dried off, wondering as she did so, what exactly Kylo had in mind for self defense lessons.
Kylo must have caught wind of what was on her mind, because as soon as she had gotten herself completely dry and rung out all the water from her tail, he came bounding out of the bath, soaking wet, and snatched her up, spinning her around and shaking his head, flinging the water from his hair all over her until she was just as wet as she had been when she emerged from the water, yelling "I can tell you're thinking about something dirty, I think you need another bath!" as he tickled her. Rey shrieked, her limbs flailing as she tried to get some kind of grip on him and get away; he merely laughed at her and pressed his face into her neck, nipping at her skin. When he finally let her down, she was out of breath and her cheeks were flushed, a half-serious scowl crossing her features; Kylo grinned and wrapped her in a towel, dropping a kiss on her nose and then grabbing his own towel to wrap around his waist before he headed into the cave "Get dressed, Rey! We have a lot of work to do."
Once they had eaten and gotten dressed, they made their way to the clearing that Kylo had been using to conduct Rey's training exercises. He had no props or tasks set up this time, he merely handed her a long wooden stick; it was a plain looking staff of a common hardwood that came to a few inches above her head when she held it upright, and sturdy, just the right thickness that she could grip it firmly. Rey held the staff in her hands, feeling it's weight and how it extended away from her. Turning to Kylo with a quizzical expression she asked "What is this for?" He had his back turned to her and was unwrapping an object much the same shape, but considerably larger, from its lamb skin wrappings "It is whatever you need it to be." he answered, turning to face her, the thing in his hands now revealed. It was a staff, but nothing like the one Rey was holding, this one was almost twice as long and jet black; and although it was twisted and gnarled like a length of driftwood, Rey couldn't quite tell if it was truly from a tree, or if it was some kind of strange metal. At one end, the staff held a large red crystal that looked like a ruby the size of her fist, though unlike the gems she'd seen pictures of, it had no meticulously cut facets; it appeared to grow out of the staff similar to how anemones seemed to spring from the rocks in tide pools that she'd seen as a child when her mother took her to the sea. At its other end, a dual-edged blade, shaped like a scythe was fixed to the tip; honed razor sharp, the blade was as black as the staff itself, the only thing that distinguished it as a different material was how it glinted eerily in the low light.
Moving on from the memory, Rey asked Kylo "What do you mean it's whatever I want it to be? Mine doesn't have a crystal on it. Can I cast spells with it?" He shook his head "Staffs like mine are not really used to cast spells specifically, they're really just tools that can help to focus one's magic on a particular task, or to enhance the power of the ability you already possess. We're not yet sure whether your magic is the kind that would benefit from such a tool, but I can teach you to use it as a weapon to defend yourself, and in the process learn more about the nature of your power. If your power is indeed the type that can utilize a staff, then we can build you a staff and get you a crystal of your own." Rey thought for a minute "What do you mean when you say that my magic might not be the kind that would work with a staff? Are there different kinds?" He nodded "The kind of magic that works best with a staff is the kind that projects; it reaches out, wants to connect, make contact, whether for god or ill. This magic radiates out from the one who possesses it, and though it is found in magic users on all ranges of the spectrum, it is most predisposed to offensive spells." He held his staff out flat in both hands, "A staff provides a focal point for directing power, makes it more precise; it also amplifies it. Think of how you can focus sunlight through a lens; sunlight on its own is broad, unfocused, and therefore harmless, but, focused through a lens, it can burn and start a fire. Some magic users even utilize much smaller implements such as wands to perform more fine tuned spells."
Rey laughed a little "Except that you aren't harmless without that staff. I've never seen you use offensive magic, but something tells me that you could still do damage without it." He smiled, looking down at the staff fondly "Yes, you're right that I still have power without it, but it makes it easier to cast powerful spells without having to use a huge amount of focus. It's most useful for large scale battles." She considered his words "Does that mean you've been in battles before, Kylo?" Frowning, he gripped the staff more tightly, as if recalling something particularly unpleasant "This staff has seen me through many difficult times, some I'd rather leave buried in the past, but yes, I have seen war and battles."
He lifted his head and straightened his shoulders, letting the blade end of his staff touch the ground lightly "Enough about that. Today we're going to start you with a few basic moves; you need to learn to block and strike efficiently, once you have those mastered, we can build from there." Rey passed her staff from one hand to the other playfully "Aren't you going to tell me about the kind of magic that doesn't benefit from a staff? Also, shouldn't you be teaching me to hunt? I'm far more likely to run into a bear or some monster out here than I am to end up in a battle with other people somewhere." Kylo lifted an annoyed eyebrow "If you would rather lead these training sessions, then by all means, tell me how you'd like to be taught." Rey flashed a sheepish smile, still passing her staff from hand to hand "You're right, I'm sorry. It's just that going out hunting with you sounds exciting, and I haven't had much excitement in my life up until now." He relaxed a little "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I need to make sure that you are prepared to defend yourself before I put you in any kind of danger." She covered the end of her staff with both hands, leaning her chin on them and giving him her most persuasive smile "But I wouldn't be in danger if you're around. You're stronger than anything we could run into out here, right?" Rolling his eyes at her flirting, Kylo let out an exasperated sigh "If you can successfully block five of my strikes, and land one hit on me, then I'll take you to find something real to fight, does that work for you?" Rey gave two little excited bounces on the tips of her toes and nodded furiously, her tail swishing back and forth in eagerness "Yes! I can do that!" He responded with a groan before patting her on the head and picking up a plain staff of his own "I only brought my staff to explain its purpose, I hope you didn't think I'd actually try to attack you with it. Now! Let's begin."
They spent the remainder of the day trading strikes, with Rey finding out that fulfilling their bargain was much easier in theory than put into action. She had managed to successfully block one or two of his strikes, but no matter how fast she was, she could never land a blow of her own. By the time they were done, she was sore and bruised, wishing she had never agreed to his terms. Kylo was fatigued but in good spirits, playfully ruffling her hair as they put away their gear "You'll get it eventually, satyrkind, don't be too hard on yourself." She swatted at his hand, irritated by both his cheerfulness and her failure "Let's just go home," she muttered. "Home?" he asked, almost exultant at that point "So you've decided to stay indefinitely, I suppose?" "Ugh!" she groaned "Will you just shut up? Yes, I'm definitely staying." he laughed and scooped her up, throwing her over his shoulder "Alright then, let's go home."