Rey slinks around the back of another ship. She watches Kylo Ren storm towards the town, clearly intent on dragging back his prisoner. Well, he won't catch her.
Rey pulls herself up, cutting the lock off with her lightsaber. She pries the door open, staggers inside, and feels an arm wrap around her throat, holding her neck in a precarious position.
"Well," sneers one Twi'lek. At least, Rey thinks it's a Twi'lek based on the long tentacles dangling past the being's waist. "What do we have here?"
"Thief," grunts another one.
"We should bring her to the king. Prana could always use more food for his zoo," says a third. "Lock her in the—"
Rey does not know who this King Prana is, but she does know where she heard the name before, and she has no intention of being fed to a rathtar. "You will release me at once," she says, pushing her words into his mind.
The hold around her neck loosens.
"What are you doing?" yelps a blue Twi'lek, the one who suggested they give her to Prana.
"You will let me walk out this door, and you will not come after me," Rey states.
Two nod. The third blinks. "Why would I—"
"You will let me walk out this door, and you will not come after me," Rey repeats.
"I—" The Twi'lek's eyes cloud over. "I will let you walk out the door, and I will not come after you."
"Good-bye," Rey says as she leaps out the door.
"Hey, who are you?" More Twi'leks. Rey whirls around and slashes at them with her lightsaber—just close enough to terrify them as she flees.
"Get her!" A blaster shoots past her and hits another ship, engulfing it in flames. Kylo's ship.
Oh well, Rey thinks.
Screams erupt all around her, tearing the air with terror and rage. Rey chokes as another coughing spasm stymies her from fleeing. She tumbles to her knees, fingers sinking in mud as she spits up.
"There's a girl! A girl tried to—"
Get out of here! There is no way she can steal a ship now, not tonight. In another moment the mob will be on her, and Kylo Ren must certainly be on his way back to the commotion.
Rey scrambles into the forest, realizing that it's more of a swamp than a forest when she's already far enough inside that she can't see the dancing light of the flames. She grits her teeth as she yanks her leg out of the mud. She would have preferred the quicksands of Jakku. With her lungs still feeling as if they've been weighted down with lead, she doesn't know how many more steps she has in her.
The hum of a lightsaber sends terror ricocheting down her spine.
"Rey," she hears his voice call. "Rey, I know you're out here."
Do you? she wonders. Or are you just guessing? A vine smacks against her eye. Tugging at it, Rey begins to climb. Her fear fuels her energy.
"If you come back now, I won't hurt you!"
No, Rey thinks as she pulls herself up the vine. You'll just hand me over to someone who will.
The vine stirs in her hand. Rey freezes, one hand pressed against the scabby bark of the tree, the other hand clutching a vine that's slithering down her leg, wrapping around—
Rey shrieks, letting go and plummeting to the ground, splashing into a small pool. Unfortunately, she hears something else splat against the mud.
Summoning the Force, Rey thrusts the creature away from her, panting. And then the swamp is light up in a furious red, and she sees a serpent, writhing and greener than any green Rey would ever want to see, slam into Kylo.
His lightsaber flies away, crashing into another tree. Rey runs.
And she hears him cry out. Blue lights up then—my lightsaber!—and within a second she ducks, that lightsaber having flown past her head.
She summons her own lightsaber, feels it fly into her grasp. Armed, Rey ducks under the hanging branches of a slimy, dying tree, lighting her way with blue.
And she can still hear his strangled gasps. It serves him right—I'm not doing it, this can't be the Dark Side—oh, fine!
Rey whirls around, stumbling over a rock as she splashes back towards the pool. The serpent hisses when it sees her, body coiled around its prey. Kylo looks at Rey, mask covering his face, but she can tell he's looking to her as his only hope.
Determination chases away the weakness of her illness. Rey lunges at them both, searing the snake with her lightsaber. The creature snarls, wriggling in agony as she stabs it in the face, in the eyes—but it keeps thrusting at her, while still gripping Kylo—be careful, or you'll slash his head off—
Kylo finally frees one of his arms. His lightsaber flies into his hand as Rey takes advantage and cuts off the creature's head. Blood—purple and thick—spurts over Kylo's mask. He gags as Rey pries the thrashing body off him.
Doubled over, Kylo wheezes as his lungs try to adjust to having air in them again. He tosses the mask to the ground.
She's too weak to run. "That's the second time I could have let you die," Rey informs him, gasping herself. Her legs shake.
"So why didn't you?" He's not challenging her. Instead, face lit by the blue hue of Rey's lightsaber, he almost looks as if he's beseeching her.
"Because I don't like it when people suffer," she says. "Because I don't want to be like you."
Panting, he rocks back onto his heels. "You can go."
"What?"
"I'll tell Snoke you escaped."
She can't believe it. "You just want me to die in the swamp!"
"No, I—"
"There's light up ahead!" A harsh voice echoes through the trees. Kylo and Rey look at each other.
"Up the tree," Rey directs, using her lightsaber to check for serpents. All clear. She drags herself up—just a little further, you can do this, you can do this, you have to—thrusting a hand down to pull Kylo along with her. She can feel his arms shaking. Hers aren't doing any better.
She switches off her lightsaber, perched as far near the top as is safe, her arms and legs wrapped around the trunk. Her throat itches, but she can't cough. Not now.
A small posse of Twi'leks and men swarm the area. "They killed the serpent!"
"This way!" directs the Twi'lek, plunging on ahead. Rey sighs in relief.
"By the way, your ship went up in flames," she whispers.
She can't see him, but she hears his intake of air.
"The stormtroopers—"
"They stayed back. I imagine they're dead," he says harshly.
"Or taken to King Prana," Rey muses. Same thing. Guilt fiddles with her stomach. I don't want to be like you.
She just caused the deaths of all those stormtroopers. Maybe some of them had known Finn. Tears sting her eyes. She sniffs.
"Are you crying?" she hears him ask.
"I'm still trying to get over an illness."
"Right."
Rey sniffs again. "I'm sorry they're dead."
He snorts. "You realize none of them would care if you died?"
"Yeah. But I care." She peers down and catches a gleam that must be his eyes.
"What do we do now?" he asks after a moment.
"We should stay here for the night—find some shelter, something—and maybe tomorrow, or even the day after, steal a ship." Rey glances down again. "Do you still mean it? No Force tricks to get me to your Supreme Leader?"
He sighs. "I won't. We'll leave together, I drop you off at another planet, you get home, I'll go back to Snoke."
"No," Rey says, sweat sliding down her back. "I drop you off. And you figure out how to get back to Snoke."
"Fine."
"Why do you want to go back to him anyways? Won't he be angry with you for failing to bring me?"
"What other options do I have?" he hisses.
Rey can't believe she's saying this. "I can drop you off at the Resistance base. Your mother—"
"No," he cuts her off. "I can't."
His tone is so flat, so matter-of-fact. It takes Rey a moment to process why it disturbs her: there's no conviction.
She lets silence—or, the chirps, buzzes, and occasional wails of the swamp—take over. After what seems to be close to an hour, Rey finally says that they can climb down. Her limbs shake as she shimmies to the swamp floor.
"Now what?" Kylo asks.
Rey lights up her saber. "We look for any land out of the water."
Finding dry land turns out to be harder than Rey anticipated. When Kylo finally finds a small hill, Rey's too exhausted to think about building shelter. "We'll have to take turns keeping watch."
"I'll take the first shift," he volunteers. "You sleep."
"Thanks." The headache that accompanied her fever has returned, but Rey tells herself she'll be better after she's slept.
She drifts off and dreams about an ocean, and Luke, and her mother, a woman without a face.
"Rey." A hand shakes her awake. She jumps back when she realizes Kylo Ren is inches from her face.
"You were moaning in your sleep," he explains.
Sitting up, Rey taps at her skull. The headache's gone. She doesn't want to go back to sleep. "I'll take over."
"You weren't asleep that long."
"Well, I'm fine," she snaps. "Sleep, don't sleep, do whatever you want."
He hunches over, but she can tell he plans to stay awake. Why, she doesn't know. "Look," she tries. "If you sleep, you'll be better prepared for tomorrow, when we steal the ship."
No response.
"You are still planning on letting me go, right?"
"I—yes."
His hesitation sets off a fire within her and her lightsaber. She points it directly at his skull. Kylo jumps, his hand hovering over his own saber.
"I'm leaving here and I'm not going to Snoke," she says, voice shaking. "Was it just a ploy? So I'd help you?"
He shakes his head, eyes wide. "N-no! I meant it. I just—"
The lightsaber doesn't waver. "Was having second thoughts?"
"No. Yes. But no. You can go. I—"
She withdraws her weapon. "I can't tell when to trust you."
"It wasn't a plot," Kylo insists, sounding almost on the verge of tears. "None of it was. I don't think so. I don't—" He slams his fist into an uprooted tree, sending root fragments and bark flying. "I don't know whether it was or not! I don't know what's real and what's not anymore! I don't know what I want, who I am, whom I'm supposed to be!" He punches himself in the side once, twice, three—
"Stop it!" Rey grabs his wrists. "What are you doing?"
Dawn starts to breathe over the swamp, setting their faces aglow with a violet hue. She realizes that Kylo's crying, he's actually crying, and Rey doesn't know what to do, because monsters don't cry. "This isn't about me at all, is it?"
He tugs his wrists away from her, but she holds on. "I—you don't understand, Rey. If I don't bring you back, Snoke will be furious. He's already—he's angry I lost to you and the stormtrooper on the Starkiller. If I don't do this—"
So much fear. Even those moments she pushed into his mind on the Starkiller and felt his fear were minimal compared to the amount of he he's willingly showing her now. Rey peers at him. "If you're afraid, go to the Resistance. Snoke won't find you there. They'll keep you safe."
"He won't—" Kylo exhales raggedly. "He'll still find me there, Rey. He'll always find me."
"Do you want him to?" An hour ago, Rey would have been certain she knew the answer. Now, she suspects Kylo himself doesn't even know.
"I—I need—" He shakes his head.
Rey releases his wrists, leaning in. "I thought you practically worshipped Snoke."
"He—he's not—I'm afraid of him, but it's wise to make your subjects afraid, isn't it? So they listen? Because it's best for them in the end?"
"No," Rey answers bluntly. "Why do you—I can't understand why you'd want to serve such a creature."
Kylo meets her eyes, his scar garish against his skin. "He showed me the power of the Dark Side. He showed me—he showed me what I could be, in my grandfather."
Rey picks up some of the fallen bark and tosses it into the air. "Luke's told me about Anakin Skywalker."
"The Jedi held him back," Kylo says quickly. "From becoming Darth Vader. Just like they were holding me back."
"How did you meet Snoke?" she inquires. Her throat feels scratchy, and Rey realizes how long it's been since either of them had water.
"He was always there. He supported me. He told me I'd be something great, like my grandfather, like my father and my mother, even. And then he showed me how foolish they were, with the Rebellion."
"You honestly think the Empire should have lasted?"
"Well, what's the alternative? Chaos?" Kylo counters, almost as if he's reciting lines that have been drilled into him. "I remember the early years—Mother was always rushing off somewhere on some diplomatic mission, and Father had no idea how to deal with a kid. When they shipped me off to Luke's they were relieved. If the Empire was still around, they could have—"
"At least you had parents," Rey snaps. The sun has almost completely risen by now, and the violet light's transformed to a soft yellow and a vibrant orange.
A blaster shot cuts through the air. Kylo grabs Rey as Twi'leks and men appear from behind a tree, all aiming blasters. Kylo grabs for his lightsaber, but Rey shakes her head.
There's no point.
One talks into a radio. "Tell King Prana we found them."
Poe eases the starfighter down on Stewjon. "Seedy place," he observes as he lowers the ramp.
BB-8 squeals and races off, zipping in and out of puddles and people as it races towards a familiar droid.
"R2!" Poe shouts. Behind the droid, a Wookiee roars.
"I take it you're with the Resistance," says a man clad in Jedi robes, face covered in a graying beard.
"Yes, sir. Mr. Skywalker. You are Luke Skywalker, right?" Poe asks.
The man grins. "I am. And you are?"
"Poe Dameron. Pilot. This is Finn. He used to be a stormtrooper under your crazy nephew."
Finn glares at Poe, and when Luke's face falls, guilt creeps in. "I'm sorry. We're—we're here to look for Rey. To find her."
Luke studies both of them. "Well, come on, then." He beckons towards the Millennium Falcon, coughing.
"You all right?" Finn asks.
"I've been ill." Luke waves his head. "No matter, I'm recovering now."
"How certain are you that it was Kylo Ren?" Poe asks once they're on board. He tries not to obsess over the details of this place, this legendary ship. Focus on your mission, Dameron.
"It was a Dark Force user, and as far as I know, Snoke's only apprentice is Ben. He used to have more, but whenever they wear out their use, he…" Luke draws his fingers across his neck.
"Wait, seriously?"
"I always wondered where the other Knights of Ren went," Finn says.
"Ben is a special case. He's made from the Light, and the Dark. Snoke's been… interested in Ben since he was a child." Luke drums his fingers on the bunk. "If either of you think you can take him on, I assure you, you cannot."
"But you can," Finn exclaims.
"Maybe."
"Why would he take Rey?" Poe asks, watching Finn's face, still so full of hope, of faith, that Luke Skywalker would save Rey. Poe's heart aches and he hates himself for it.
"Snoke likely wants another apprentice. I doubt Ben understands what that means for him."
"I thought the Knights of Ren weren't like the Sith," Poe says as BB-8 and R2 power up the Dejarik table. Chewie watches with interest. "That they can have more than one apprentice."
"Snoke has no problem having multiple apprentices. But I fear Ben has disappointed Snoke somehow." Luke gets up from the bunk, pacing.
"You fear for him?" Finn's lip rises in disgust. "What about Rey?"
"I fear for both of them," Luke says. "Compassion isn't limited to just the good. For so long my own mentor tried to tell me my father was too far gone. In the end, he wasn't."
"Your father didn't kill his own kin, though." Finn clenches his fist. "I saw him murder Han Solo. His own father. I saw him—he ordered me to kill countless people. He made me a murderer. He tortured Poe!"
Poe nods. "He did."
"And now he has Rey, again."
Luke sighs. "I have no idea where he's taken Rey."
"So we're screwed, is what you're saying," Poe supplies.
"Hardly." Luke leans over and coughs. "We need to get back to the Jedi temple. There's a man there—or there was a man—who cares very much about what happens to Rey. He might be able to help us help her."
"Who is it?" Poe asks, dubious.
"My old master. Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Finn's jaw drops. "A dead guy?"
"A Force ghost."
Finn looks at Poe, who shakes his head. "News to me."
Chewie stands up, growling and gesticulating.
"We believe him!" Finn squeaks.
Thanks to everyone for reading, and for all the reviews! Seriously, I so appreciate it. Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment, in which Kylo and Rey will have to work together to escape whatever King Prana has planned for them (and maaaaybe start appreciating each other a little more).