Rey needed no rousing the next morning. She was up and dressed a full hour before they even needed to be awake, and sat cross legged on her side of the bed, staring at Kylo as he slept, as if doing so would draw him into wakefulness. Rey knew full well that he was a remarkably heavy sleeper, and was quite unenthusiastic about being woken before he needed to be. She'd tried once before, but he responded by growling like a bear, grabbing her by the arm, and dragging her back into bed, where he'd held her tight and half laid on her, immobilizing her until he was ready to get up. This time, she made sure she was out of range of his considerable reach, and sat there, trying to figure out how she would spend the remaining time until he got up and readied himself. Sitting in her cross legged position, Rey though back to what it was like when her mother woke her up in the morning. Rey had also been difficult to rouse when she was small; all the other children were eager to get up and attack the day, but Rey was a drowsy child, preferring to remain submerged in her dreams over crawling out into the blinding sunlight.
Nara found that her daughter responded the most favorably when she sang her awake, starting off with softer evening ballads, and then building to cheerful work songs that made it impossible for Rey to not want to get up and dance. She now recalled one of the more quiet songs, a favorite of hers that told the story of a faun who lost a horn and went to a wood nymph, seeking to restore it. She began humming the song quietly to herself, closing her eyes and thinking back to the last time it was sung to her, remembering how her mother would stroke her hair and laugh when Rey tried to burrow herself deeper in her bedclothes. Lost in her nostalgia, Rey sat there, happily swaying back and forth until she noticed the absence of Kylo's deep, even breathing. Opening her eyes, she saw him, face mostly buried in his pillow, one eye sleepily staring at her between locks of his unruly hair.
Reaching out, she tousled his hair a bit "Oh, have I woken you, love? I didn't mean to." she said, a laughingly apologetic tone to her voice. He responded with a groan that was more amused than it was annoyed "You just couldn't wait any longer could you?" he asked, laughing and stretching his arms out above his head "Well you are awake now," Rey prodded "might as well get up?" He responded by balling up his pillow and launching it at her head, striking her square in the face and almost knocking her onto the floor behind. Rey squeaked in surprise, but she caught the pillow as it made contact, and righted herself before lunging at him and buffeting him about the head with it, as she voiced her displeasure. Kylo caught her around the waist as she attacked him and quickly flipped her onto her back, tickling her and yanking up her tunic to blow raspberries on her belly.
Rey's irritated scolding soon turned to shrieks of laughter as she wriggled around, trying to get away from his assault; Kylo was soon laying kisses wherever he found bare skin, drawing little gasps from Rey until he was running his fingers under the waist of her breaches, fully intending to disrobe and devour her right then and there. Rey, realizing his intention, jerked herself free and rolled off the edge of the bed, landing in a crouching position, yelling as she went "No! No, no, noooo! You promised me a hunt today; I'm ready and you're not going to distract me like that, get up!" Kylo let out a frustrated growl, and reached out in a swiping motion, trying to grab her, but she evaded him, dashing to where he kept his clothing and snatched up a pair of his breeches, a tunic and belt, before hurling each piece at him one by one "I'll be outside when you're ready" she said and stomped off.
Kylo soon emerged from the cave, dressed and in seemingly good spirits, his boots draped over one arm; seeing Rey sitting by the fire pit, coaxing a flame to life, he sat down next to her to put them on "You're skilled at that, but I need to teach you how to light the fire with your magic. It's one of the most useful tools you will have at your disposal." she nodded, still focused on the task in front of her "You sure I'll be able to do that?" he smiled, pulling the laces on one boot tight and tying it off "You've shown you can produce energy without a problem, all I really need to do is show you how to manipulate that energy into heat, and you'll be lighting everything on fire in no time." Rey leaned back on her heels, admiring her handiwork as the flames blazed up enthusiastically "Fire can wait, tell me about our hunt today." Kylo finished fastening his boots and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "We'll head to the north, goblins congregate in small groups there; they are ferocious creatures, but small and easy to put down. They might at first seem like nothing more than simple mischievous creatures, they mostly just loot and vandalize, but given the chance, they'll murder any other creature in cold blood just for the fun of it." Seeing Rey's questioning expression, he continued "You seem like a tender hearted person, Rey, I just want to make sure that you don't hesitate when the time comes. We'll go after you get something to eat."
After they had eaten, Kylo took Rey to where he kept their training tools, and instead of handing her the plain staff she usually trained with, he handed her a different one. This new staff had long, slightly curved blades affixed to each end. She took the weapon and weighed it in her hands, giving it a few spins to test its balance. Grinning widely, she turned to him in excitement "What's the occasion?" He had gotten out his own staff and was taking it out of its protective wrappings "I can't have you going out to fight beasts with a plain wooden staff now, can I? That's just irresponsible." Rey ran her fingers over the designs etched into the haft "Where did you get this?" she asked wonderingly. Kylo smiled, a faraway look in his eyes "I told you that I'd seen battles and war...to be honest, I loved it; the chaos, the savagery. I've collected numerous weapons over the years that remind me of those times. This is merely one of them." Rey frowned at his words "You liked it? War is evil, Kylo. Killing and destruction is horrifying, no one should enjoy that."
His gaze came back to her "That's what they tell you, the peaceful, quiet folk. They decry warfare as madness, call it an unnecessary evil, when the truth is that, for some of us, it is the only outlet for the passion and fury welling up inside our souls; the howling becomes too great, and there is no relief beyond violence. That violence can either be turned outward and released in a way that has purpose, or internalized and inflicted on the one who bears it. The second option never lasts for very long, and that's how you end up with someone snapping in a moment and slaughtering their entire family. I won't say that such occurrences are beyond the control of the person who commits them, or that it's any excuse, but that aggression cannot be bottled up. Some of us are born with that spirit raging inside of us, while others acquire it through trauma and abuse." He handed her a cross-body holster for the weapon "Here, put this on."
Shouldering her weapon, Rey followed along silently behind Kylo, carefully considering what he had just said to her. She had a lot to occupy her mind as they made their way through the forest; she wondered what it could be like to have this internal rage burning inside her the way he had described. She'd always felt calm and even tempered, never flying into a temper as a child; she was the one who approached difficult situations reasonably and rationally and couldn't remember ever having an impulse to act violently. Even when she'd attacked him the first time they met in the forest, and that felt like a life time ago, it had been in self defense, and she only remembered feeling fear and a strange pressure growing deep inside her. If she was being honest with herself, Rey couldn't even say for sure why she wanted to go on this hunt. She'd never killed anything before in her life, and she didn't understand what made her want to now. "It must be that I want to prove to Kylo that I can take care of myself, and I've learned what he's taught me well so far." She felt a poking sensation of annoyance at the thought of wanting to please him, but quickly dismissed the idea altogether "I'm not doing this for him, I'm doing it for me. I CAN survive on my own without the approval of the elders who aren't even my people. Someday they'll see how wrong they were." She thought to herself as she walked along.
Stealing sideways glances at him as they walked, she wondered what Kylo was like in the height of a blood rage. Was he a mindless killing machine who couldn't distinguish friend from foe, or was there a deadly purpose in his actions? Did he become a force of destruction that acted with searing precision? She knew what he was like when pursuing other passionate impulses, so she had no doubt that it was a sight to behold. The image of him standing in the middle of a scorched battlefield with felled enemies piled at his feet made Rey uncomfortable; not because she was afraid of him, but because she didn't like the fact that it made her want to press her thighs together. She shook off the feeling, trying to focus on the mission at hand. Those feelings could wait, she might be fighting for her life at any point she told herself. Still, the task in front of her didn't stop images of her lover, covered in dirt, sweat and the blood of his enemies, his eyes still alight with the thrill of slaughter, throwing her to the ground and sating his passion with her body, from springing unbidden into her mind's eye. This was going to be a long day.
They had been traveling along for a while, and Rey noticed that they were coming upon a grassy clearing. The trees were thinner there, letting more light through than the denser patches of forest, and she could clearly make out a dusky meadow peppered with small white flowers. As they grew close, Kylo held up his hand, silently indicating to her to slow down; coming to a halt, he crouched low, Rey following his lead without question. He leaned close to her, and, bringing his mouth to her ear, whispered "There is a small group of four goblins on the far edge of the meadow just ahead; they're easy prey, but they can pose a problem if they catch you coming before you can strike. I'm going to let you take care of them on your own, while I hang back to provide support if you need it, though I doubt you will." He gripped her shoulder confidently "Whenever you're ready, Rey."