Thank you Katrina for leaving a review! I am glad you are enjoying the story so far. I know, Reylo hasn't really been moving forward at a fast pace, but I promise that will eventually change. I do love me some Reylo action as well and I am itching to write it, trust me! Also, thanks to all of you who are following the story. Enjoy the chapter!
I do not own Star Wars :(
Chapter Eleven:
Rey was seated on the sand, legs up against her chest, chin resting on her knees. The lowering temperature made her shiver, the light breeze playing with the loose strands of her hair. The surrounding climate no longer held her interest. All her focus was on the man sitting before her.
Early on in his story, Rey had lowered herself to the ground, listening to every word that came out of Kylo's mouth. After seeing her relax, he came closer, sitting only a short arm distance away. The detail he went into as he spoke had surprised her since he didn't seem like the talking type. She actually smiled at him when he talked about his interactions with his uncle and being in the café. If she hadn't been paying close enough attention to his face, she would've missed the short-lived grin when he described the banja cakes.
But it had happened, and she had noticed.
She had become tethered to his emotions immediately after he described the two men entering the eatery. The ups and downs of his feelings had left her mentally exhausted, as if she'd been in those caves with him, witnessing the horrors hidden in the mountain. The breeze had helped dry her tears before they spilled over onto her cheeks.
He didn't try to hide how many people he'd killed. Even though he didn't know the exact number, he computed that it was in the dozens. Rey knew she should feel disgusted for what he'd done, but secretly, she was glad those men were dead. The woman he murdered, though, left her feeling queasy.
Then there was how he found out about his grandfather that had tipped him over the edge to embrace the dark side and betray his family. Even though Rey knew joining the dark side was wrong, she could understand why he had.
No wonder he tries to be honest all the time. He abhors lying cause he was lied to all his life, Rey inwardly mused.
It had been a few minutes since he'd last spoken, and all Rey could do was stare at him behind her soft eyes. His fingers were playing in the sand as his memories kept haunting him. Rey had no idea what to say to break the silence. All the responses she'd come up with seemed to not be enough for the moment.
He locked his eyes with her, raising his hand to relax on his thigh.
"I honestly have no idea what to say," Rey whispered, staying still. He raised his brows in disbelief. "What?"
He shrugged. "I just thought you'd accuse me of being a murderer and try to convince me how wrong it was to seek out the First Order."
A deep sigh came from Rey's mouth and her eyes drifted down to his chest. He was a killer, but accusing him to be as much was a waste of time.
He knew who he was; she didn't need to remind him.
They sat there, both comfortable in the silence that ensued.
Suddenly, Rey felt like she was floating, even though she could see that her body was still lounging on the ground. She realized what was happening: she was waking up. Her awareness spiked as she started to panic.
She didn't want to leave.
Kylo looked at her questioningly, feeling her panic resonate through the Force. She couldn't leave without saying something to him, and she frantically searched for the words to express how she felt.
"I'm sorry you felt betrayed by your family," Rey began to say. "It was wrong for them to keep a secret like that from you. And what happened in those caves was horrible, and I don't mean you killing those men. I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I'm glad they're dead. I'm talking about you seeing those women and children chained and locked away. And you killing that women is a tragedy, but I do believe you didn't intend for that to happen. I can feel your regret over killing her." Rey was talking a parsec a minute, trying to impress upon him what she thought.
His eyes grew wide as he watched her.
"The First Order isn't your destiny," Rey implored. "What you're doing is wrong. You want to do to the galaxy exactly what happened to those people in the caves. You want to enslave civilizations into following your ideals. That's not giving them freedom. Its taking it away." She paused, taking a deep breath. His face was becoming dark again, and she was so close to waking. "And you deserve to be free. Your master is enslaving you, Ben. Can't you–"
()()()()()
Kylo shot up from the bench, eyes falling upon the computer. He rubbed at his face, trying to wipe away the fatigue, being reminded that he hasn't had a proper night sleep in weeks. It wasn't necessarily because of the dreams he shared with the girl, but because of a gnawing feeling that something significant was going to happen.
And soon.
The bond with the scavenger was significantly stronger than it had been before falling asleep. He could easily feel her emotions, could get glimpses into her thoughts as he told her why he left the Jedi Order. He knew he should be furious at revealing so much of his past, but he wasn't. Talking to her had felt so... easy.
Kylo surveyed the inside of the AT-AT, wishing she were there with him. He couldn't deny how much he wanted to be with her, whether it was physically or to just be in the same space. The light within her called to him, urging him to never part from her.
It was wrong. Everything about it all was wrong.
Kylo knew this kind of sentiment was very dangerous to the plans ahead. Even if she could accept him for the monster he was and wanted to remain with him, where would he go? Back to the Resistance with her? The only thing waiting for him there was his execution. And she made it quite clear that she would never join the First Order. No, the only option he had was to remain on the path he was on.
This wasn't the first time he'd thought about deserting the Order, followed by the shame that sliced through him for giving the idea too much credence.
Weak. Sometimes he was so... weak.
Kylo stood and walked over to the water caskets, listening to his boots scrape against the ground in the silence of the room. He paused, listening to –
Nothing.
He sprinted to the exit hatch and pushed it open to see the stillness of dawn.
The storm was over.
His focus started to come back as he tossed his inner light further down into the dark crevice of his apathy.
Before leaving the temporary home, he glanced back, applying the living space to his memory. He allowed himself to think of the girl one last time. Never would he feel this close to her again. Soon, her corpse would be rotting in the dirt.
He had to keep moving forward since there was no going back. Where he was headed, compassion wouldn't be tolerated.
()()()()()
As Kylo flew toward Niima Outpost, he watched the sun rise in the far off distance, its rays coating the desert in a deceitful scene of beauty with the brilliant colors of orange and yellow. His eyes caught the faint outline of the outpost, examining the area as his heart jumped from what he gradually recognized: a small First Order shuttle. It was located right next to the main tent.
This mission was supposed to be his own.
Kylo's anger started to rise toward the person who would purposefully interrupt his plans.
Upon landing and exiting the freighter, he could sense who had arrived, causing his annoyance to heighten. He walked inside the shelter, instantly seeing one of his knights towering over Unkar Plutt. Nymeer cocked his head and smiled right at him, drawing his electrostaff away from the petrified alien.
"Master Ren. So good of you to join us." Kylo glared at Nymeer, who only smiled wider upon witnessing his growing indignation. Next to the knight's boots was his helmet. For some nefarious reason, Nymeer chose not to wear it whenever he could.
"What are you doing here?" Kylo said in a clipped tone.
Nymeer kicked Plutt in the gut, making the creature fall to the ground. The grenades and blaster pistol clanged against Nymeer's chest from the abrupt movement. On numerous occasions, Kylo had lectured Nymeer on the foolishness of strapping pyro grenades to his vest, explaining that a single blaster bolt to any one of them could cause them to detonate. But his knight never took them off.
Most likely out of spite.
"Hux sent me to make sure you were making progress," Nymeer explained. "You haven't checked in with him."
"I don't answer to Hux, nor do I have to report to him." Nymeer fully turned to face his master. His bleach, blonde hair made his white skin look close to sickly, but his height was what made him look intimidating. Not many people were taller than Kylo, and Nymeer was among the few that enjoyed such a luxury.
Nymeer poked at the creature with the toe of his boot. "Well, maybe you'll be glad to hear what I got out of this Crolute."
Plutt withered on the ground, grasping at his large mid section with his robotic arm.
"I can get the information myself."
"He has a secondary tracking system on the Falcon." Nymeer kept talking, seeming to ignore Kylo's statement. "It's basically undetectable, and he can turn it on manually from here. Looks like you can find the girl through this tub of bantha lard."
Kylo was tempted to beat that prideful grin off of Nymeer's face, but he held himself back. Truth was, Kylo had been very much looking forward to having the Crolute completely to himself. He had plans that involved an immense amount of torture, maybe some mocking, and then eventual death.
"I'll take a look for myself." Kylo glided over to Plutt and knelt down by his flat face. Nymeer backed off, giving him room to work.
"Please, no…" the humanoid groaned, but Kylo barely registered the pleas before palming Plutt's slick temples and delving inside.
Kylo was glad to see that Unkar had indeed inspected the damage he had bestowed upon the Kyuzo, which, in turn, made him fearful for his own life. Kylo dug deeper, finding that the Crolute had indeed installed the secondary tacking system on the Corellian freighter – a by product of his constant paranoia.
Kylo fiddled around the creature's mind some more, not seeing anything of critical importance. He stayed away from any memories that showed the girl, but just as he was about to exit the Crolute's mind, he saw that Plutt actually knew the scavenger's parents. Kylo took in the information. He would never use it, but he couldn't stop himself from being curious.
He pulled his hands away and stood as he gripped his saber. Igniting it, the Crolute gazed at the violent red light with horror.
"Why do you feel the need to kill this creature?" Nymeer asked. Kylo glared over his shoulder, his knight putting his palms up innocently. "Hey, I'm just thinking that we should leave him alive. He passes along information to the First Order; he can be useful out here." Nymeer sneered at Kylo, studying his master intently. "Unless, this is personal."
Nymeer had always gotten off on annoying others. Kylo was no exception. The knight always tried to push his master over the edge, trying to expose a weakness in him... which was exactly what he was doing now.
Kylo knew the need to kill Unkar Plutt was personal when it really shouldn't be. The need to avenge the girl was a weakness that was hard to cast away.
His attention was drawn to the petrified Crolute as he loomed over him, weighing his options. He didn't want Nymeer to think that he needed to kill this creature to avenge someone who was an enemy. Because if he did, the knight would then want to know what those reasons were.
With his boot, Kylo flattened Unkar onto his back, watching the creature squirm. "I want the tracking monitor on the VCX-100 light freighter. Now." Unkar didn't waste anytime staying in Kylo's presence. He scrambled to his feet, his body jiggling as he ran over to the cargo crawler.
Nymeer moved into Kylo's periphery, catching the attention of his master. "It's probably a good thing to leave those loyal to the First Order alive."
"He's only loyal to himself." Kylo disengaged the saber and clipped it to his belt.
Nymeer latched his electrostaff to his back and picked up his helmet, placing it under his arm. "That's probably more likely."
"Have the remaining knights go to the meeting place on Rattatak," Kylo ordered. "I'll let you know of my plans when we're all together."
Nymeer cocked his head to the side. "Oh? I thought you were wanting to do this mission alone?"
"There's been a hitch in my plans."
"What hitch would that be?" Nymeer asked, feigning interest.
"Skywalker. He's with the girl."
Kylo watched the surprise form on the pale man's face.
"How do you know?" This time, Nymeer was serious. Kylo thought back to when the girl had brought up the boy he'd paralyzed in his youth. General Organa would never have told that story to anyone, but Skywalker probably would.
Especially if that person was his apprentice.
Kylo and Nymeer turned to see Unkar hustling toward them with something a little bigger than a datapad in his hand. He stopped a few feet from the malicious pair, breathing heavily. "My lackey's are putting the equipment on your ship now." He gulped, taking in a long inhale of air. "This device will show you where they are and how to get there." Kylo snatched it from Plutt, gazing at a map to a planet in the Outer Rim Territories that he didn't recognize.
"Gather the knights and get to Rattatak as soon as possible," he ordered as he went to leave, not giving Nymeer a chance to re-ask his question. He wanted to get back on his ship and review the planet Skywalker and the girl were currently on. There was no way he could take on the scavenger and the Jedi Master and come out unscathed. Even though he was annoyed to see Nymeer at the outpost, it gave him the idea to utilize his knights to achieve his goal.
The Supreme Leader would hopefully understand that.
Unkar's thugs left the ship as he walked up the ramp. He needed to get this mission done, and soon. His master was losing trust in him and Kylo's focus was faltering more and more with each passing day. Killing the girl needed to be quick, like ripping off a bacta patch.
Don't overthink. Just do it.
He had decided upon this path and he couldn't let a small, desert rat get in the way of him following in his grandfather's footsteps.
()()()()()
It has been three days since Rey last saw him.
She didn't know the mechanics of it, but Rey knew Kylo was somehow preventing them from seeing each other. She would purposefully bypass meditation to take the opportunity to nap, always searching for him within her dreams. She never found him. Even at night, slumbering for a longer stretch of time, he was nowhere to be found. Either way, not seeing Kylo the past three nights was starting to make her feel uneasy. Like he was about to jump out from a corner and grab her.
Still, she had kept her talks with Kylo a secret from Luke. But now she was considering in reversing that decision.
After waking from the dream three nights ago, Rey was now more certain than ever that Ben Solo still existed. She could see his vast potential for good, and fantasized how the tides of war could be changed if he switched over to their side. But how to make him join her? She hadn't been able to come up with an answer. Whenever she tried, her mind would keep drifting to that moment he caressed her cheek, feeling how perfect it had felt.
"Okay," Luke breathed out. Rey glanced up as he entered the hut, carrying a small chest. His robes were dark brown and black, which matched the ominous rain clouds that plagued the sky. All morning and into the afternoon, Rey could hear the constant roar of thunder, but still no rain fell. Rey was eager to feel the water droplets on her skin, for it rarely ever rained on Jakku.
Luke placed the chest on the floor in front of her crossed legs as he eased himself to sit on the opposite side. He solemnly placed his hands atop the lid, looking down at it in reverence. "These are some of the light sabers I was able to gather from my fallen students. I'm going to deconstruct them and take the crystals out. I hope one of the crystals calls to you, like they did to my past padawans." He paused. "I'm sorry we cannot go to the Crystal Caves on Ilum to find yours." His voice was filled with melancholy as he stroked the rough wood of the chest.
"It's alright," she said softly. "I understand it's too dangerous. I still find it to be a great honor to use one of your students crystals."
Luke smiled in appreciation, looking at her like a proud father would his daughter.
Would she always try to find someone to fill that void of her parents?
"I do believe you are ready to make your own lightsaber. Rey, you're one of the most gifted students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching." She blushed, still not knowing how to react to accolades.
The chest creaked as Luke slowly opened it.
There were eight lightsabers, all of them unique, none of them looking even remotely the same. Rey watched, captivated, as Luke levitated each lightsaber between his hands. He took every single one of them apart, placing the metal parts to the right and the Kyber crystals to his left. The crystals glowed in the dimness of the hut, as if they were alive, pulsating.
Luke motioned for Rey to inspect the crystals. "Open yourself up to the Force and you may find a crystal that is suitable for you."
Rey scooted closer, her hand hovering over the crystals, shaking ever so slightly. She closed her eyes, feeling the ambiance of the island and allowing its energy to flow through her. Her hand was wrenched slightly to the side as she dropped her palm, enclosing it around one of the gleaming crystals. With a quaking hand, she brought it up to her eyes and examined the beautifully smooth stone. It was oblong in shape, with one end pointing out sharply and the other flat and even.
This crystal belonged to her; she had no doubt in her mind.
"I think that crystal will fit you perfectly." But Luke's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Who did it belong to?" Rey asked.
Luke exhaled while stroking his beard. "His name was Alec. He was from Coruscant and was the oldest student at the academy. He wasn't as talented in the Force as you are, but he was a very good man. He watched over the students whenever I had to be away on business."
"Well... I'm honored to use his crystal."
They let the silence fill the room as Rey kept studying the stone.
"Now," Luke broke through the quiet atmosphere, "the easy part is over. Time to actually construct the saber hilt." Rey's lips curled into a huge grin, her body tensing from excitement. "You may use any of the parts you so desire. The construction of the saber will come to you as you concentrate."
Luke kept giving Rey some pointers and offered to help her, but she declined. She wanted to do this on her own.
Over the next half of the day, Rey went through every single mental state imaginable: Excitement, agitation, drive, despair, pride – they all took their turns strangling her. She'd always been so gifted with building things, but creating her saber was one of the most challenging assignments she'd had in a long time.
With a sharp exhale, she took a break and lay out on the floor, trying to calm her frustration. Luke had left her to be alone and she wondered if he was starting to become disappointed in how long it was taking her to construct the hilt. She breathed deeply, trying to picture all the many pieces of scrap metal on the floor. Slowly, her hand drifted above her, wielding the pieces to follow her command.
A clear picture of her saber came into her mind, and she moved each piece of metal into their perfect place. It was a puzzle that Rey was on the cusp of solving her excitement growing with every passing second. Lastly, her long crystal floated in the middle of the circling pieces, pulsating a strong, white light. A sudden flash blinded her, causing her to close her eyes, but she didn't need to see to know what had happened.
With her eyes tightly shut, she let the Force guide her. She clasped her hands together, gripping a hard, metal rod. She cracked her lids open, holding her saber in silent awe. She sat up, admiring the weapon. It was longer than normal, with a sleek, silver look. Five strips of rough, black rubber circled the silver rod, making it easier to grip. Both ends of the saber were cut diagonally, instead of the traditional flat.
It was perfect.
Rey darted outside, leaving her vest and armbands behind. The sun had sett and the wind chill ripped through her clothes, but she desperately needed to see if the saber would work. She didn't want to ignite it inside the small hut, for fear she might destroy some of Luke's belongings.
She raised the saber parallel to the ground, moving her thumb against the first activator switch. A beautiful shade of yellow shot out of the end, illuminating the surroundings.
"You've done it."
She turned to see Luke smiling at her. She flipped the second activator, igniting the other end of her saber. Her master stepped forward, inspecting her carefully crafted hilt. "I've never had a student make a double-bladed lightsaber. May I?" He held out his hand hesitantly as Rey passed him the weapon. He weighed it with his hands and scanned the model with his eyes.
"How did you make this with one crystal?" Luke asked.
"During the process, the crystal split into two."
"Really?" His voice rose with his shock. He gave the saber back to its owner. "I think tomorrow morning, we should skip meditating and duel with your new lightsaber. I'm eager to see it in action."
Me too, Rey inwardly agreed.
"We can't try it out right now?" Rey asked sheepishly. Luke looked to the menacing clouds overhead as she felt the wind start to pick up speed.
"Not the most ideal weather to practice in. We can see if tomorrow will bring us better fortune." Reflexively, her shoulders slumped in disappointment. Tomorrow. I can wait for tomorrow. "I was wondering if I could show you something about the island, though. Before we have dinner."
Rey's interest instantaneously spiked. "Of course. What is it?"
"The Jedi Temple."
Her head whipped around, confused.
"Isn't this the Jedi temple?" She pointed to the huts as Luke burst out laughing.
"Good heavens, no! The temple is actually built into the island. The entrance is near where you landed the Falcon. It's next to the big tree with the three wide branches." Rey's eyes shot to the ground, her eyes growing wide.
"The temple is beneath us?" Luke nodded. "Lets go! We have plenty of time before dinner," she blurted out.
Growing up, she'd heard about Jedi temples and how secretive they were. People would always try to guess what sort of mysteries they held, but Rey never put much thought into it. She never imagined she would see one in her lifetime. When she had arrived on Ahch-To and thought the huts were the temple, she'd been slightly disappointed, but had kept that to herself.
She chalked up the bland appearance to it being the first Jedi temple. That they probably didn't have many resources to build a grand one.
They promptly hiked down the island's stairs as Luke described the objects she would find down there: artifacts, weapons, some holocrons, and lots and lots of books. Apparently the people here had a preference for writing rather than digitally recording history. Jedi's of old would try to keep a journal of their many trials and adventures, donating them be stored in the temples.
"You should try and chronicle your life and eventually add it to the library," Luke suggested.
They were coming up to the Falcon when Rey had the perfect idea.
"I'm just gonna grab something from my room.I'll be quick." Rey darted for the Falcon's ramp and headed straight for her personal quarters. She rifled through her bag and grabbed what she'd been looking for.
Luke was patiently waiting where she left him. As she neared her master, she held up her personal journal. Well, it wasn't really a journal. It was more of a survival guide on how to live on Jakku, but towards the end of writing it, she'd recorded her time with Finn and Han all the way up to when she made it to Takodana.
"I already started writing about my experiences, but I haven't written in it for awhile. I can update it when we go inside." As they neared the stone entrance, Luke listened while she described what was in those pages.
To her left, the gigantic tree filled up a lot of the space. She never really paid much heed to the tree, but as she studied it, something about it felt familiar to her. Luke must've seen the way she was eyeing it, prompting him to explain that the planets energy was focused on that very spot.
It wasn't hard to feel the power resonating from that area, but the feeling of the Force was not the familiarity she was experiencing. The sound of a rock sliding across the ground made her whip her heard back to their destination. Luke was Force pushing a massive boulder off to the right, and ever so slowly, Rey started to notice a doorway sized cutout in the hill side.
She hurried to the entrance, peering inside. It was eerily dark, but the minuscule amount of light from the outside revealed steps leading down into the black cavern. Luke grabbed a small orb from the rocky shelf at the entrance and activated it. Light emanated out in every direction, exposing the flight of descending stairs. Rey took every step cautiously through the narrow stairway until she came to the bottom. Luke tossed the orb into the air. It flew to the middle of the circular chamber, floating in place high above them.
Lining the walls were numerous tables that held all different types of weapons and relics. In the middle were rows of bookshelves, each filled to the capacity with leather-backed novels and journals. The air smelled old and musty, but there was a comfort in this place that allowed her to relax.
"There's a doorway at the back wall that leads to more cavern's like this one, but there's enough in here to explore for now," Luke explained. Rey walked to the bookshelves, her fingers touching the leather volumes as she passed by. So much knowledge was at her fingertips, it made her feel giddy. It was a stark contrast to her having to really dig through vast amounts of rubble to find readable data-chips on Jakku.
"Is it alright if I stay down here for a bit before dinner?" Rey's eyes were still scanning the bookshelves, wondering which book she would read first. "I want to look over some of these books, if that's okay?"
"Of course. I'll grab Chewie out of the Falcon and head up to start cooking. Don't be too long, or else I can't promise there will be any food left." He was alluding to Chewie's never-ending appetite.
Rey chuckled and promised to be up soon.
After Luke departed, she made her way over to a small group of tables in front of the book shelves. She should get as much writing done before delving into another Jedi's tale of adventures. Writing her experiences came easier than she thought it would... except for when it came to Han's death. She gave her honest account of the proceedings, leaving little to the imagination. Once she started to record the events on Ahch-To, Rey had to pause. Did she write about her dreams with Ben? It's not like anyone would be reading this anytime soon, but the possibility was there. And how would her feelings come across on paper? Would the reader think she was insane for trying to bring Ben back to the light?
Rey scoffed, pushing her journal away. Her hands massaged her neck as she stretched her head from side to side.
Maybe reading a Jedi's own account could help me determine what to write, she thought.
The books on the back shelves seemed to look the most recent. She picked one at random, opening to a section that depicted quality sketches of what appeared to be jewelry. But they all had an oddness of shape; a necklace that looked more like twisted piping, headdresses that were far too big for a person's neck to balance, gold sheeted bracelets that covered the forearms. But her eyes lingered on a ring. The band was plain enough, but the crystal that was placed atop it looked to be too out of place. It was large and multifaceted, sticking straight up and noticeable, the color blacker than the night sky during a new moon. Below the drawing was some writing:
Kyber crystal that has been corrupted and infused with pure dark side energy. Such a relic has been used to cloak one from the Cosmic Force, but the price upon the person's mental state makes it so Sith are even hesitant to use it. It was last rumored to be on Mandalore, but no one of great respect has seen it for over two thousand years.
As Rey stood in the dim light, reading and listening to the beginnings of rain outside, an uneasy feeling started to rise in her chest. Her skin tingled as a shiver ran up her spine, like her body was trying to tell her something. She brushed it off, thinking that maybe it was because she was late for dinner.
Her stomach was starting to rumble.
Keeping her eyes turned down on the book, she rounded the shelving, walking in the direction of the table. A booming sound of thunder filled the room, causing her to glance up at the entrance.
Rey froze in place, letting the book fall from her hands.
Her heart hitched in her throat, refusing to let any air pass, the thoughts she'd been having disappearing as her mind went blank.
Standing at the bottom of the stairs was Kylo Ren, wearing his full regalia of black robes and foreboding mask. His hands balled into fists at the sight of her, but he made no move to grab the lightsaber from his belt.
Rey wasn't going to wait for him to do so.
She called the orb into her hand and shut it off, plunging the cavern into utter darkness. Her legs sprinted to the back wall while she tried to recall the general layout of the library. She placed the orb gently on the floor, grabbing for her saber, feet tiptoeing through the bookcases as she visualized where she was going.
Wanting to stay hidden, she wouldn't activate the saber unless she absolutely had to.
Her ears strained to hear any hints as to where Kylo was, but the heavy rainfall was masking any noise.
Trying and failing, she couldn't get control her erratic breathing and pounding heart under control. Her hands shook as she held her lightsaber, but she willed herself to get closer to the exit, fighting through the fear. More than likely, he was hiding near the stairs, waiting for her to get close. But what other option did she have? She couldn't stay in here indefinitely; he would eventually find her. The only small hope was to sprint to the exit, hoping he was walking around trying to find her.
Mustering up the courage, she darted to the doorway, banking on Kylo being the type of person not to have enough patience to wait for his prey. Her foot made it to the third step when she suddenly felt a hand grasp her ankle. She lost her footing, the side of her head hitting against the rocky steps. He yanked her back to him as she tried to banish the dizziness from her mind.
Realizing her hand still held the saber, Rey ignited one end and swiped at his face, making contact across the side of his mask. He let go of her leg and she sprinted out into the pouring rain. Her eyes instantly saw the Falcon as she started to run towards it, but she stopped when she heard blaster fire from above.
Luke.
Chewie.
She couldn't leave them, even if it meant giving up her only means of safety. Her legs hammered up the stairs as the rain soaked through her clothes, praying over and over for her friend and master to still be alive when she got there.
()()()()()
"Chewie! Go find Rey and get her out of here!" Luke yelled at the Wookie as he deflected blaster fire with his green plasma blade. Luke dove behind a boulder, kneeling next to Chewie and peeking out to see six black figures progressing toward their location. These were the Knights of Ren, which meant his nephew was somewhere on the island.
Rey….
What Luke thought would be a normal stroll before dinner had turned into a fight for survival. He hadn't even sensed the knights coming till it was too late. Either his nephew had grown more powerful and could hide his knights with the Force, or some of the knights were Force sensitive, trained in the skill of hiding their signature.
Chewie stood, aiming his bowcaster and firing off a few shots. One of the knights flew back into the rock face as Chewie knelt down for cover. Fire exploded to Luke's right, an immense amount of heat rolling across his face.
"Rrrraaaagh aaaaagghh."
Luke rubbed his hands against his features, feeling if his hair was still on his face.
It was.
"I'll be fine. I've been in worse situations, but Rey's in danger!" Suddenly, one of the warriors rounded the left corner. Luke shot out his hand, sending him flying into the darkness. He shot to the ground, barely missing the electrostaff that came at his head. The knight redirected the hit and Luke blocked the strike before it struck his midsection.
The fight became aggressive as the knight made Luke back up and block his onslaught of attacks. Luke waited for an opening and then Force pushed the warrior off to the side. The man landed light on his feet, obviously having some training in how to handle a Jedi.
The warrior sauntered into the darkness behind him, leaving Luke's searching gaze.
Luke glanced frantically over to Chewie. The Wookie was battling two dark figures, but seemed to be holding his own. His big furry foot landed in the middle of one of their chests, sending the knight sprawling backward. Chewie grabbed the other in a choke-hold and with one powerful tug, ripped the head straight off the man's shoulders, spinal chord whipping in the air.
Luke couldn't help appreciate having a Wookie on his side.
Upon seeing what Chewie had done, one of the remaining knights halted their advance, deciding to take on the Wookie from a distance. Luke heard one of them coming up to his side as he dodged the incoming electroblade. The knight swung it with proficiency, expertly parrying Luke's advance.
Luke attempted to Force push the warrior back, but the knight only slid a few steps.
This one was Force sensitive, and was going to be more of a challenge.
While he had a few seconds of a break, Luke's attention went back to Chewie. Him and another knight were firing at each other from behind there defensive positions, which left three unaccounted for. Luke's eyes drifted to the far rock wall, seeing movement half way up. A warrior was climbing to the top and Luke could see a blaster rifle strapped to his back.
A sniper.
The Jedi Master didn't have any more time to scan the area as the knight advanced toward him again. Sparks flew off the elecroblade as their swords met in midair, Luke looking for the the upper hand. This knight was a master swordsmen and knew how to fight against a lightsaber. A feeling of dread washed over Luke as he saw that Chewie was pinned down in his position, unable to leave.
Luke's apprentice was all alone, and would have to fight his nephew with the little amount of training she had.