Rey was brought into the training gym first thing in the morning, not having the large breakfast she usually received ever since she arrived here, instead only receiving a banana, oats, and milk. She wasn't entirely bothered by this, being previously familiar with getting small meals. But he couldn't help but sigh as she thought about all the food she could've had in her stomach right now. In spite of her contempt for this place and its inhabitants, she was rather pleased with all the food she had been filling herself with. That was most likely the only thing she would miss about this place, once she was out she'd be on the streets, feeding off scraps again until she made it back to Jakku and found her parents.
For as long as she could remember Rey had imagined what their reunion would be like. She would walk through a crowd of people, asking each if they had seen two adults who looked like her, finding no luck until she would hear voices, a man's and a woman's, sweet and gentle, asking around if anyone had seen their lost child. She'd run over to them and find a tall man with dark brown hair and chocolate eyes, with a woman with lighter brown hair and grey eyes. They'd see her and would instantly know that she was the child they had lost long ago. They'd take her in their arms and rejoice, bringing her into their hut and through a feast to celebrate. They'd all be together, and be happy forever.
Rey had first imagined this scenario when she was very young, before she became a fighter, and it had evolved into a wishful daydream that she would cling onto when ever despair threatened to consume her. Even now, in a strange city miles away from her hometown, where her parents were still searching, Rey would still tell herself what would happen when she was free. If she was ever free.
Rey looked back to her curtains as her guard led her away to the training room, closing the door behind him, and smiled slightly. Soon, only a few feet left, she would be.
Arriving at the gym she noticed that none of the training guards were there like always, instead there was only one man, Kylo Ren. Rey was surprised, but not caught off guard, unpleased, but curious as to why he was there. Walking out on her way to take her bath, with Mashra in tow, she had seen the man being carried on a gurney to the medical until. He was out like a light and deathly pale to boot. Rey had noticed slight burns on his neck and chin, and wondered just how many more there were under his thick clothes. Worry and fear began to settle in from anxiety of how this had happened. Master Snoke was the only one above Kylo in power, so it could only be he who did this. Was he sadistic, or just angered with Kylo? Could she be next if she didn't watch her step?
Rey quickly capped her thoughts before they could get out of hand and moved on with her bath. Even so, she could not stop the thoughts that plagued her with curiosity. What could he have done that angered the master so much as to take such violent actions? When Rey had first met Snoke when her previous owner introduced her as his best fighter he had claimed that he took good care of his fighters so they could fight at an optimum level. What had happened seemed to be the exact opposite of his words.
The train of thought ended there though, as Rey was hastily snapped back into her present situation when Slip pushed her inside and closed the door behind him, keeping guard over the exit. Now it was just him, his guards, her guard, and her in the room.
The air was so thick and tense that it couldn't be cut with a simple butter knife, a meat cleaver would be more appropriate.
"What is going on?" She snapped first, no longer being able to act like nothing was amiss.
"Today we'll take your training a step further." Kylo announced and threw her a wrap of cloth to cover her knuckled, his fist already covered and prepared. Rey gingerly wrapped her knuckles, still suspicious as to what was going on.
"I thought I said I didn't want to learn from you." She stated blandly.
"Things have changed. I'm afraid I have to revoke that liberty." He responded and removed hic cloak and jacket, handing them to one of his three guards.
"As if that was a liberty." Rey muttered under her breath, refusing to prepare any further than her clothed fists. "I'm not going to fight you." She declared.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said coldly.
Rey was about to ask what he meant by that when her face was nearly acquainted with a fist barreling as lightning fast speeds. She had her naturally swift reflexes to that for how she was able to narrowly dodge the attack.
"What the-" Rey barely breathed out before she was bombarded with a series of punches. She was able to deflect and dodge the attacks fairly for a while before she began to become overwhelmed. Having not been warmed up before the fight and not having a real challenge for a while, Rey began to tire and become panicked. Maybe about five minutes passed with her simply dodging, never finding a chance to take the offence, before Kylo was able to land a solid blow to her gut. Rey felt all of the air in her lungs instantaneously leave her as she fell to the ground and was slammed to the ground on her back.
Her vision blurred and her heart pounded in her ears as she lay panting on the floor. Kylo stood above her, barely breaking a sweat.
"What the kriff was that?" She cursed him, not moving from her spot on the ground.
"Reflex practice." He responded before aiming a heavy kick her way.
Rolling out of the way with great haste, Rey hopped to her feet just in time to avoid a kick going for her head. Bringing her head down her avoided the attack, jumping back when Kylo followed through his roundhouse with another of the opposite leg. Tired of being showed up Rey attempted to take the offensive, aiming a kick of her own for his right ribs; however her leg was caught by him with ease. She tried to pull away, but failed to match his strength. Lifting her up from the ground Kylo set her flying to the other side of the room, where she brutally met the ground in a hard fall.
"Come on Rey, if you can't manage to gain the upper hand in a fight you'll be slaughtered in the ring." Kylo shouted at her while she picked herself up from the ground.
"I know that!" She hissed and charged for him.
This time Rey aimed a right hook for his jaw, but was caught off guard when not only did he deflect her move with his arm, but also latched his grasp around her wrist and propelled her forward towards, simultaneously aiming a fist for her face. Rey was able to shift her head to the side, avoiding his fist by a hairs length, getting lightly scrapped. Instead she was slammed into his chest, making him stumble a foot back, but not knocking him over. Still having her arm in his hold, Rey did the only thing she could think of. Crouching down she launched herself upwards and head butted Kylo under his chin.
The shock was enough to get him to release her for a split second, allowing her to back away before trying again to gain the offense. Going low, Rey swept her leg under him to knock him to the ground. However she didn't apply enough force and was only able to leave a bruise, unable to make him budge an inch. Kicking her protruded leg, Kylo knocked her off balance to where she was on the ground lying on her belly. Before she could stand he was on top of her, holding her down with her arms behind her back. Kylo was far too heavy for her to push him off and far too strong for her to break free.
Overtime her struggling became less frantic as she wore herself thin. After a few minutes she was lying nearly still under him, her breath labored, and her muscles sore.
She tapped out.
Kylo stood up from her and took a step back, watching as she flipped her body over, but made no further move to stand.
"If this was the ring, you would be dead now." He scolded her with a fierce gaze, a gaze not of fury, but of passion. "And soon it will be. Your first match here will be in two days, and the master does not forgive failure."
Rey didn't look at him; rather keeping her eyes locked on the ceiling, but soaked in every word. She was faced with death once again, forced to fight to simply stay alive at the will of the fat pigs who sat in the stands. She thought back to her previous fights under Unklar Plutt, and how she was forced to feed, cloth, and keep warm those who got off on her suffering and the deaths of others. All those fights where she would either win within seconds, or strive for nearly an hour to avoid death's clutches, only then to take the life of those she did not want to battle.
All for the pleasure of the disgusting vermin she dreamed of burning.
Rey was done. She didn't want this anymore.
"I'm not going to fight." She murmured.
"What?" Kylo questioned in a near growl, clearly caught off guard and unprepared. The guards around the room also appeared surprised by her declaration, and shifted awkwardly on their feet.
"I'm not going to play their game, I'd rather die."
"Then why haven't you done so before?"
Kylo's inquiry brought back her daydream to her mind. The image of her being happy with her family, as if she had never left. The dream of being free from bondage like she was never in it.
That dream was slowly fading away.
And it terrified her.
She would never admit it, not out loud, not to herself, but she knew. She knew the truth; she had for quite some time, years in fact. But it was all she had left of herself, without the daydream she was nothing. If she were to allow herself to confess the truth then she'd surely die. If not physically then mentally, she'd snap and become something she could never come back from.
So she let herself dream again. She pictured their rejoicing faces, imagined the warmth of their embrace, and let herself be tricked with hopes that she knew were simply a fraud.
"It's none of your business." Rey said flatly as she stood from the ground, staring down the man in front of her with a renewed look of determination. "I'll keep fighting."
Once they started again it was no longer blind fighting, instead Kylo pinpointed every, mistake she had made in their fight, and focused on what she needed to change. He taught her what to do when an opponent came in close enough range and aimed a punch for her. Exactly as he had done on her, Kylo showed Rey how to latch onto their wrist as it went by and pull them towards her, using their already propelling velocity to catch them off guard, while, still holding them by the arm, and delivering a punch of her own. It was the classic technique of turning an enemy's strength against them in a new and innovative way that proved to be more effective.
He then showed her what to do if her enemy responded like she did. If they managed to dodge, turn the punch into a choke hold and bring them to the ground, wrapping her legs around their waist and holding on with a tight grip until they either gave up or passed out.
Rey asked what to do if they tried to deliver a head butt like she, an almost sly grin on her face as she did so.
Ignoring her grin he then instructed her to do one of either two things: back out of the way while still holding onto them, or spin them out and back, holding on tight to conscript them.
As Kylo taught her these things he would give demonstrations, working with her to show her how it was done. He let her practice the moves on him until she was able to get the hang of them. If she didn't know any better she'd think they were almost dancing, especially with the spin out move, which he advised her only to do with opponents of equal or shorter highest. Their bodies move in sync with each other as they continued to practice. It reminded her of the time they were practicing in on same punching bag back in the undergrounds of Jakku. Their eyes were locked, focused only on each other, like there was no one else in existence, and they were alone performing their eternal dance, balancing each other out.
In this moment, where Kylo was showing her how to properly react when your kick is caught, she felt… tranquil. She felt no anger, no fear, and no pain. The cry of her aching muscles was nothing but an insignificant hum amidst a much grander sky.
"Are you ready to try it?" Kylo inquired, stopping his example and turning to her.
"Huh?" Rey snapped out of her derailing train of thought at his question.
"Are you ready to try the move?" He echoed himself, an almost amused glint in his eyes.
Rey nodded and stepped in front of him. She hadn't been listening, but she had been watching, she was positive she'd be able to perform it correctly.
She sent a kick for his ribs, he caught it, and just as she saw him do, she jumped up on her grounded foot. He caught that one as well and she flung her body backwards, twisting herself as if she was on a swing, and rose herself up again until she was up and above him. Suffocating her face in her thighs she used her momentum to swing his body to the side, knocking him to the ground. Now being a little innovative she slid down to Kylo's chest, holding his arms down with her feet, and chocked him; clutching his throat in her left hand, and covering his mouth with the other.
The guards on the side became panicked and almost ran over to remove Rey from him, but stopped when they saw his grin. Kylo was clearly enjoying himself.
Aiming a kick at her back, Kylo used his long legs to knock her off, successfully using enough force to get her off. Rolling off Rey immediately got up and went into a fighting stance, but relaxed when she saw that Kylo was taking his sweet time getting up.
It truly was a simple dance to them.
"Good, good." He praised her when he reached his feet. "But you should always be wary of the length and reach of your opponent's limbs. If you would have brought me in a back hold I wouldn't have been able to remove you."
"But you could have lifted up your weight and slammed me against the ground." Rey denied.
"That is why you would have wanted to wrap your legs tightly around my waist and leg, so I wouldn't be able to lift myself up to do so."
Rey nodded in understanding. Trying again to perform and carry out the move.
Practice went on for thirty more minutes until it was time to call it quits. Kylo and Rey didn't say goodbye to each other and simply went their own ways. Rey went to take a bath and relax in the tub until lunch, something she had begun enjoying. When she arrived back in her room, escorted by her guard Slip, Mashra was waiting for her with her lunch.
Walking in and seeing the fellow slave, looking malnourished and tired, obliterated her strangely peaceful mind in an instant. Within a second Rey was reminded of who she was. She was a slave as well who was treated better than the rest because she could fight. But she would never let herself believe herself to be better. Only one slave thought of himself as something different, and she was not him, she never would be.
Rey would never become like Kylo Ren.
But she felt herself slipping.
"How was training today?" Mashra asked her sweetly as she set her plate out for her.
"Not too bad." Rey responded and sat down in her usual chair. As always she split the meal in half, giving Mashra an equal amount of food, and a little extra to take to the others.
Rey always enjoyed spending time with Mashra, she truly thought of her as a friend. Rey inwardly wondered if she could break her out as well when she finally made her escape.
.
.
.
It has been a while huh? Well finals just began and I'm now recovering from a cold. I probably won't be delivering any new chapters for quite a while more. Gotta study and remain sane. Hope y'all liked the chapter, I'm really trying to take time to slowly develop Rey's character, but I consciously scared that I'm moving too fast. Am I doing alright? Please leave any comments you have, I love hearing your thought. Until later, hope y'all stay updated.
Favorite, Follow, Review~