Chapter 8 – I'm Missing Something
"Ow!" Rey hissed as she danced away from Ben's electrostaff where it'd landed on her bottom and delivered a low-level sting.
"Move your feet," Ben suggested as he sunk back into a fighting stance, gesturing for her to attack again.
Rey waited a moment before launching into another series of swings, determined to land a blow.
Ben had recovered remarkably quick from his bout with the plague. It'd only taken a few days before he'd been chomping at the bit to do something, anything to release his cooped-up energy. They'd started up their morning runs again, to Mixa's disapproval. Rey had to promise to adjust their path so they wouldn't be doing any jumps. Ben had been as grim as ever to hear that, but inwardly, she could tell he'd been happy to get some physical exercise. He was fully invested again in routine chores around the base, accompanied as always by his three shadows. Rey reorganized the schedules so Ben could spend half his time doing tasks around the base and devote the other half to training her. As such, they'd turned their impromptu training sessions into an official activity each day.
Poe and Finn were still leading the siege of the Hollastin mining site. By the last report, the siege was going in the Resistance's favor. They'd almost worn down the facility's defense layers. One of their engineers had found a weakness in the structural layout; there was a flaw in the site's design due to the natural tunnels running beneath the facility. They focused their efforts on breaking into the site that way as well. Their hope to quickly take over the Dedlanite mining site was becoming reality.
Rey and Rose had successfully set up a work schedule to run the base and accommodate the new training regimen. Their people were slowly getting used to wielding knives, electrostaffs, and electrorods. It would take time for them to use them effectively. Animosity over the revelations about Rey's lineage had faded away as she interacted with the base. Finn and Poe's plan had worked. Those people she'd sensed had doubts about her loyalties had their uncertainties dashed away. Rey was confident her friends had regained their trust in her, at least at this base.
Rey herself had quickly advanced in the breathing exercises she'd been introduced to. Summoning the Force came much easier now, such that Ben had decided she was ready for practical lessons after a few days. Rey had been so excited when Ben first said this. She was finally getting to the part of the training she'd really wanted! Poe couldn't object to her giving Ben a weapon, even for training purposes. She'd supplied Ben with a three-foot electrostaff, the most similar weapon to a lightsaber she could find. They'd put the weapon's power on low so it could only deliver slight stings yet still repel a lightsaber, and Ben had shown her how to put a lightsaber on lower power as well. The purpose of this training was to help her develop and use the proper lightsaber forms, but after a few practice duels, Rey was convinced Ben had advanced her training so he could have a good reason to take a break from chores.
"You have to be cheating somehow," Rey grumbled as Ben once again evaded her thrust, easily parrying her lightsaber away.
They'd been sparring for over an hour and Ben was barely breaking a sweat whereas Rey was panting and her clothing was drenched as if she'd been running through a desert. When they'd first started, she'd tried to go easy on him. After all, he didn't have access to the Force and she'd won quite a few of their fights before. But Ben had quickly corrected her misapprehension and trounced her in each bout.
"I have fifteen years of experience on you," Ben said as he batted away her blade with a flick of the wrist. "You've been fighting with a lightsaber for how long? Just little over a year, if that?"
"Yes, but I've won our fights before," Rey shot back, getting frustrated as she swung at his ribs and he knocked her lightsaber away yet again. The force of his parry jarred her wrists and made her hiss in discomfort.
"I was mortally injured during our first fight on Starkiller Base," Ben looked a little offended. "I would have been surprised if you hadn't won. The other times... well, I didn't want to hurt you."
"You were holding back?!" Rey glared at him. She thought she'd done well in those fights and now he was telling her he hadn't even been trying?
"You were always on the run. The only times I got to see you was when the Force decided to connect us through the dyad or when we were fighting," Ben sullenly kicked a rock, his cheeks turning bright red. "Is it wrong I wanted those encounters to last a little longer?"
"I thought I was actually doing well," Rey huffed and swung her lightsaber through the air, eliciting a dangerous hum.
"You are doing well," Ben countered with a reassuring smile. "But you can't expect raw talent to outmatch more than a decade of fighting experience. Even without the Force, I'm still the better swordsman and will remain so until you learn to harness the Force and use that weapon properly," He nodded at the lightsaber she was holding. "Remember the breathing exercises. It's the same as when you lifted the rock, but this time, redirect energy into yourself to enhance your movements."
"Okay," Rey breathed in deep, releasing her frustration into the river in her mind's eye. It helped to visualize the energy flow.
The Force thrummed around her and Rey sensed the intricate connections between living organisms and nature. She redirected a stream towards her and a rush of strength flooded her veins. With a burst of speed, she launched into an attack at Ben, striking at his knee before whipping the blade around towards his head. Ben stepped to the side and caught her blow, reading her movements to catch the strike to his head. Rey tried to recover and land a blow to his other side, but Ben dodged and returned with his own attack. Rey was able to use the Force to read his next few movements but missed the last warning and she received a stinging blow to her ribs.
"Kriffing hell!" Rey shouted out. She clutched her ribs and uttered the worst Jakkuvian curse words she knew in Uthuthma and Teedospeak. Some of the scavengers she'd worked with or competed against had been quite inventive.
"Breathe through the pain," Ben said gently.
She looked up to see him reaching out to her in concern. Anger sparked in her heart. How dare he act concerned when he'd been the one to crack her ribs in the first place!
With a war cry, Rey pushed away the pain and summoned all the energy she could. The stinging faded away and her sight sharpened as she launched into a series of swings. Ben's movements seemed slightly slower as he moved to parry. His smile as she was able to hold her own for over a minute just served to infuriate her more. But soon, her muscles started screaming at her as lactic acid built up. Rey tried to speed up her movements and read Ben's actions at the same time. She slipped on a bit of slick ground and that was all Ben needed to knock away her lightsaber and connect his electrostaff with her neck.
Rey cried out as stars exploded before her eyes and she was knocked to the ground. Groaning, she turned onto her back and waited for the yellow dots to fade from her vision.
"Easy," Ben said as he eased the lightsaber from her grasp. The humming faded away as he turned the weapon off. His palm covered the painful welt on her neck, the touch soothing. It might have been her imagination, but it felt like some healing energy was going into it.
"Am I that bad at fighting?" Rey asked as she raised a hand to cover his. She pushed energy into the wound and the pain faded away. At least she was good at this. Her vision recovered and she wearily blinked her eyes open to see Ben staring down at her with genuine concern.
"I didn't lie before. You are a good fighter, Rey," Ben assured her as he helped her into a sitting position. He gently probed her neck, checking for spots they'd missed. "But fighting as a Force user is different. It requires a different mindset and technique. You aren't firing a blaster or whacking someone with a quarterstaff. The lightsaber arts are complex. There are thousands of combinations of combat forms that are difficult to master, and that's before you bring the Force into the equation."
"It did feel different this last time," Rey said as she moved her tunic aside to check on her ribs. There wasn't even a hint of redness to show where the electrostaff had landed and there was no pain. "I was in tune with the Force."
"I saw that too," Ben nodded. "But your attention lagged towards the end. You tried to speed up and became distracted," he said with an accusatory stare.
"I was getting tired and couldn't summon as much energy," Rey explained as she stretched her leg muscles.
"Don't try to go fast if you don't have the technique mastered," Ben cautioned. "All you'll achieve is haste, not speed. It will end up being the cause of your death. If I'd been wielding a lightsaber, I would have cut your head off."
"Why shouldn't I go faster if I can?" Rey questioned as Ben hauled her to her feet. "Isn't that the point of using the Force?"
"The art of fighting with a lightsaber is a combination of timing, control, and fluidity," Ben swung his electrostaff through the air, fluidly transitioning between different lightsaber forms which Rey recognized from illustrations in the Jedi texts. "Even Luke had me start out slow and go through the steps of each lightsaber form a thousand times before I could move on. Once you learn the movements and the footwork, you naturally speed up."
Ben sped up his movements, the electrostaff becoming a blur as it snapped through the air. The demonstration was an odd yet logical blend of danger and beauty.
"I've learned about the different lightsaber forms," Rey activated her lightsaber and went through Form I in slow motion. "Leia helped me get the basic forms right over this past year."
"Your footwork is all over the place," Ben said, glancing down at her feet as she moved. "That's why it seems like I'm winning so easily."
Rey stopped and followed his gaze. "What do you mean?"
"Watch my steps and follow along," Ben said patiently.
He moved through the form and Rey watched carefully. It looked the same as how she did it, but she paid attention and copied him.
"Your stance isn't stable. Sink down into the steps," Ben told her as he moved.
It went against Rey's instincts, but she gave it a try. Her stance did feel better, but she felt a little trapped like she wouldn't be able to move quickly enough if she had to.
The Force sounded a warning in her ears and Rey snapped to attention in time to see Ben launching an attack at her. She caught his staff on her blade and moved to the side to strike back. She attempted to focus on her footwork a little more and it was a little easier to keep up with him. She called on the Force to ease her exhaustion and it answered. She felt a little slower in her movements, yet sinking into a more stable stance was allowing her actions to increase in fluidity. Rey sighed in disappointment as Ben managed to trick her with a blow to the neck that was redirected to her legs at the last possible moment. He was merciful and didn't connect with her skin.
"Good," Ben said, but there was a glint of doubt in his eyes.
"I'll get better," Rey swore to him. That was a promise to him and herself.
"I know," Ben nodded. "It's just..."
"What?" Rey asked as she handed a bottle of filtered water to him before grabbing one for herself. Their sparring match had dehydrated her terribly.
Ben opened his mouth but closed it as Resistance fighters came into view of the training grounds, the area she and Rose had sectioned off for training. It was time for the base to work on using their new weapons.
"Nothing. I'll figure it out," Ben said, his gaze was searching her for something. He tossed her his electrostaff and took a nutrition bar from his belt and unwrapped it. "Good luck with the training," he said with a smirk as he headed to the sidelines.
"Thanks," Rey said, still curious. What had he been about to say? She shook herself and focused on greeting the fighters as they congregated before the pile of storage bins. She'd get an answer out of him later.
-oOoOoOo-
Ben found a good spot with a view of the training grounds and sat down and tried not to gag as he ate his nutrition bar. It was barely better than the emergency rations on the Supremacy. He frowned as people filtered into the area and stood in groups, talking with each other. He pondered the question which had been running through his head the entire morning. Why was he so easily able to trounce Rey? She had advanced enough in learning how to summon the Force to start lessons on fighting with a lightsaber, but something was off. With his ability to summon the Force cut off, his speed was lacking and he had to rely on technique and experience. He was indeed the better swordsman, but Rey should still be able to win half of their bouts. What was he missing?
"Hello everyone!" Rey called out after she finished her conversation with Rose. "We're going to be working with quarterstaffs and electrorods today. Grab a weapon from the storage bins and pick a partner."
Murmurs of interest ran through the group and everyone did as she bid, picking weapons and calibrating them to non-lethal settings. Ben smiled and leaned back, ready for the show. This was going to be amusing. He'd caught a few glimpses of the training sessions over the past few days, but hadn't been able to stay long because Larma and Mixa had restricted his activities, stating their concerns for his health. He'd been stuck doing inventory in the med tents or in the shipyards cleaning old starship parts with acid water. To say he was expiring from boredom was an understatement.
Ben snorted as he watched the Resistance fighters awkwardly swing the heavy staffs at each other. It was clear how much they relied on using blasters as their primary weapon. Rose walked around, dispensing advice and telling some people to turn down the electrical components of their staff. Ben bemoaned the latter direction; he'd been looking forward to the idiots zapping each other. He chuckled under his breath again as a pair in front of him displayed the most pathetic fight ever. He didn't feel guilty for thinking this as one of the people was his nemesis, Winn Bris. The pilot's grip on the electrified electrorod was awkward and inexperienced and his form was terrible. The other person wasn't doing much better.
"What are you snickering at?" Winn sneered at him when he noticed the amused noises Ben couldn't suppress.
Ben didn't rise to the taunt and merely smirked at him.
"Fuck off!" Winn shouted at him, his cheeks going red.
"Winn Bris, watch your language!" snarled a nearby humanoid female. She covered the ears of the children nearest to her. She was leading a children's defense class on simple unarmed self-defense techniques.
"Zala, he's-" Winn whined.
"I don't care! Do not use swear words in front of the children!" Zala bared her fangs at him.
"Miss Zala, what does-"
Zala covered the child's mouth before he could finish that sentence.
"It doesn't mean anything, sweetie," Zala assured the curious child. She got the children's attention and pointed to a bright blue bird flying among the trees on the other side of the training grounds. "Look at that! Who can tell me what kind of bird that is?"
They gave their guesses in piping voices as Zala gently guided all eight children away with a parting glare at Winn.
"Thanks a bunch, fuck-face," Winn growled at Ben before re-engaging in a mock battle with the unnamed fighter.
"It's not my fault you suck at fighting," Ben chuckled as Winn was smacked in the leg because he didn't move out of the way fast enough. He was focusing too much on swinging the electrorod to care about where his feet were placed and it was proving to be his downfall.
"If you're so perfect at it, then why don't you show us how it's done?" Winn spat at him. "Otherwise, don't you have some chore you need to fuck up?"
"Alright," Ben sprang up and grabbed two short electrorods from an open storage container. He'd been waiting for an opportunity like this since the pilot had sabotaged his stew and humiliated him in front of the base.
The Resistance fighter pairing with Winn took one look at Ben advancing on them and squeaked in fear before running away. Winn turned around to see what had alarmed his partner. The only indication that he was alarmed was the slight widening of his eyes. Ben activated the electrorods to low power and swung at the man. He didn't unleash his full abilities; that would just be unsportsmanlike.
Unprepared, Winn yipped as both rods struck him on the torso. The pilot retaliated with haphazard swings that Ben could have dodged in his sleep. Winn didn't move his feet at all and Ben punished him for it by tapping his rods against his shins. The man yelped and leaped backward.
"What's going on here?" Rose stepped between them, knocking aside their electrorods with her electro-shock prod. "We're here to train, not to have a pissing match."
"He invited me to join the training," Ben said innocently. He noticed with amusement that several Resistance fighters were trading bronze credits behind Rose's back.
"I wasn't serious!" Winn retorted, rubbing his shins hard.
"If you want to learn how to fight with something other than a blaster, I'm all too happy to instruct you," Ben smiled viciously, feeling quite smug at having put the belligerent pilot in his place. "I'm qualified, after all."
Winn snarled silently at him.
"Fine," Rose said.
Ben and Winn whipped their heads around to stare at her. What?
"I'll let this sparring match go forward with a few conditions," Rose gave them both a stern glare. "No abusive comments or inappropriate language and no beating on each other. We're here to train."
Rose grabbed Ben's electrorods and double-checked the settings were set to only deliver small zaps, not debilitating electrical jolts. She lowered the energy settings – alright, so he'd set the controls a little high – and then checked Winn's weapon as well.
"Come on, then," Ben gestured for Winn to make the first move.
The pilot was looking much more unsure of himself than he had a few minutes ago but with all eyes on him, he pulled himself together. He stepped forward with determination and swung hard. Ben sidestepped the strike and tapped him on the wrist, leaving a red spot.
Winn hissed in pain and aimed a blow at Ben's head. Ben easily blocked the strike and parried the next blow towards his ribs. Winn had stopped moving his feet again, so Ben aimed an electrorod at his legs next and succeeded in hitting him. As Winn yelped in pain and hopped around, Ben landed what would have been a killing blow on his torso with his other electrorod.
"Dead," Ben said, stepping back.
"Argh!" Winn launched himself forward and swung wildly at him.
Ben parried without breaking a sweat. This was almost too easy. He transitioned from a defensive pose to an offensive form and jabbed Winn in the back as the man went flying by him.
"Dead again," Ben said without remorse.
Winn shouted in unrestrained anger and aggressively charged him, practically throwing himself onto Ben's electrorods. All Ben had to do was extend his weapons and catch Winn in the chest. The double electrical charge zapped Winn and threw him back on his ass, the scent of burnt cloth seeping into the air.
"Stop letting your emotions rule your actions!" Ben yelled, losing his temper at the extremely stupid choice the pilot had just made. No fighter worth their salt would throw themselves onto their enemy's weapon. Even he couldn't stand for such sheer incompetence.
Winn glared at him through a haze of pain and humiliation.
"Get a hold of yourself and think about your actions," Ben told him. "If this was a real fight to the death, you would have just impaled yourself on my weapon and I wouldn't have needed to do anything!"
Winn looked away, chastened by his defeat and all the eyes watching them. "What should I be doing, then?" he asked sullenly.
"Staffs aren't blasters," Ben said with the barest hint of sarcasm. "You can't wield a staff and assume you're going to hit your target and cause damage. Using a staff or even a lightsaber takes technique, a seamless combination of footwork and body movements."
Ben slowly went through the movements of an offensive lightsaber form which translated well to using staffs or electrorods. Winn watched balefully for a few moments before standing up with a wince and copying his actions. Nearby Resistance fighters were also emulating Ben, but he didn't care about that. He noted with mild approval Winn was actually watching carefully and doing the steps properly, though a little awkwardly.
"The point of developing this technique is to put you in the right position to strike at your opponent," Ben said as he went through the series again, emphasizing the feet placement. "Footwork is just as important as being able to hit your opponent."
"I guess it makes sense," Winn huffed grudgingly.
"I hope it does, otherwise you're dead," Ben said without a care.
"Why, you -" Winn growled.
Ben didn't let him finish that sentence, uninterested in a verbal sparring match. He launched into a slow version of the Makashi combat style, mildly interested to see if Winn had learned anything in the past few minutes. He pressed forward, concentrating his strikes on the pilot's torso. Winn finally moved his feet while going on the defense, his brow furrowed in concentration. Ben let him transition into attack mode and parried the strikes. There was more power behind the attacks this time and Ben had fewer openings to go for the legs. Ben only had to make a few minor corrections to his form, but the pilot was doing well.
A bell rang, signaling last meal was ready. Ben blocked a strike to his head and shoved the pilot back several steps to end the fight. He lowered the electrorods and powered them off.
"So you can learn something," Ben said. "I'm almost impressed."
"I'm not so averse to you that I'm unwilling to learn," Winn shuffled his feet. "Th-"
"Are you ready to eat, Ben?" Aarzio said as he walked onto the training grounds with Mixa. "I'm as hungry as a Rathtar. I'm surprised no one can hear my stomach growling."
"I'm done here," Ben nodded and tossed the electrorods back into the storage bin. He looked back to Winn, waiting for him to finish his comment. It'd seemed like he wanted to say something more.
Winn's expression hardened. "This changes nothing between us," he said, tossing his rods into the same bin and stalking off.
"I see Winn is as nice as ever," Aarzio said flippantly. "Did you at least knock him on his ass?"
"Yes," Ben said shortly, making his way to the canteen. One nutrition bar wasn't nearly enough to sustain his large frame, especially after surviving a deadly plague.
With his entourage closely on his heels, Ben joined the group at the canteen. He sighed as he realized they were all listening to Rey and Rose give the daily base report. Dinner wasn't going to be served for a while.
"Good work at the training today, everyone!" Rey complimented the group. "We're making good progress. The First Order stormtroopers won't know what hit them!"
The Resistance fighters cheered enthusiastically. Ben wasn't sure why they were so happy; they sucked. He supposed Rey wanted to keep morale up. He'd never been too good at that aspect of leadership.
"The latest reports from the siege indicate it is going well," Rey said. "There have been no deaths on our side. The mining site's last defense layer is breaking down. We'll be taking over the compound within the next few days and be able to process the Dedlanite."
"We've also received news from General Calrissian," Rose smoothly continued on. "The star destroyer Retribution has left the Core but is not heading towards Hutt Space. Our people at our sister base are working to determine their trajectory. Until then, we operate as normal."
"Commander D'Acy, can you give us a run-down of our medical status?" Rey nodded for Larma to take the stage.
Larma gave a favorable report. Their inventory was replete with all the supplies they needed for when the siege fighters came back. The scare of the case of Bekrian Shadow Plague was a thing of the past, but Larma did caution everyone to act smartly and report any symptoms.
Baso gave her report of their starships next, keeping her speech short and to the point. Mosla went next, giving a concise but thorough report on recent communications her team had flagged between the First Order and potential allies. She requested extra support to track down the locations so General Antilles' people could fly out and attempt to persuade them to lend their support to the Resistance instead. Rey approved the request and promised to meet with Mosla later to discuss the specifics.
"Does anyone have anything to report?" Rey opened the floor for general comments and questions.
Everyone remained silent, but more than a few people looked at Ben. He could feel their gazes like ants crawling on his skin.
"Then let's eat!" Rose clapped her hands.
Most people turned away and joined the line to get food while a few others swarmed Rose and Rey.
Ben shoved people away from him as they got too close for comfort and quickly grabbed food. Tawna had prepared something new to eat. It was an animal Ben hadn't seen available in the canteen before, possibly a ground critter. It had dark blue crispy skin and a spiral tail. At least it was a break from the never-ending servings of roasted bird. He sat down at an empty table and ate quickly to quell his gurgling stomach.
"You did well today with Winn," Rose said as she sat down across from Ben. "I expected more fighting, but you actually turned it into a training session."
"Believe me, that wasn't my intention at first," Ben huffed.
"I know," Rose smiled. "I saw your initial interaction with him. You know, we could use another trainer in our sessions."
"You do have a knack for training people," Rey agreed as she took a seat on the bench next to him, faint vibes of pride and joy coming through their bond.
Ben wasn't sure how to react to that. He did feel the most in his element when fighting; he knew how to do it well, so he supposed it was natural to pass it on. But he had absolutely zero interest in mentoring anyone except Rey.
"Not happening," Ben said as he tore the bread roll with his teeth. "None of them want me as a teacher."
"Don't assume that so quickly," Rose said with a sly smile. "I've already gotten three requests for you to help out with the training sessions."
"What?" Ben looked incredulously at her before training a death glare on the surrounding tables, looking for the perpetrators. "Who?"
The fighters at the nearby tables looked away as he turned his head, but they were excitedly talking with each other. Ben couldn't help but feel it was about him. The vibe he was getting from them conveyed anticipation, not anger or hate.
"Does it matter?" Rose shrugged.
"They probably just want a chance to take a swing at me without you yelling at them," Ben turned back to his food. "The sparring match with Winn just gave them the idea. Remember my first day on the base?"
"Perhaps that's true," Rose allowed. "But then again, as you said earlier, you are qualified to teach them. What do you say?" she asked with a hopeful expression.
Ben turned to Rey, expecting her to nip this ridiculous idea in the bud. Him, Resistance fighters, and freeform weapons training could only end in blood and disaster.
"I don't have a problem with it," Rey said after a moment of consideration. "Everyone would benefit and I know they will appreciate it in the long run. And it would go a long way to helping you gain their trust."
Ben scowled as he realized he was being enlisted to train the Resistance fighters. The chore would be grouped into the other endless, monotonous tasks he was required to do around the base. Well, there went his appetite.
"Do I have the option of saying no?" He poked his fork at the lumpy vegetable on his plate.
"Of course you have a choice, Ben," Rey assured him, shocked he would think otherwise. That made him feel a little better. "We really do need someone with a wealth of experience in this type of combat, like you. Rose and I can only do so much ourselves. You know I'm still in the process of learning myself."
Rey looked at him intently with those beautiful hazel eyes and the resistance Ben had been building against the inane request crumbled into dust.
"Fine, I'll do it," Ben begrudgingly said. He held up a finger as Rey and Rose opened their mouths. "In return for calling off my guard dogs during the night. I can't sleep with someone always shuffling outside my tent."
"We're not that loud," Sertali primly said as she scraped her vegetables onto Mixa's plate and he passed over his portion of meat.
"For me, you are," Ben said. It wasn't their fault. He was just too damn sensitive to the slightest sound when he was in a vulnerable state like sleeping. Had been since… well, he didn't like thinking about it.
"They're there to protect you," Rose said, shaking her head.
"If someone wanted to hurt me, I could take care of it myself," Ben disagreed. He could handle a few disgruntled Resistance fighters, but he didn't think any of them were dumb enough to attempt murder in the middle of their own base. "If you're that concerned about my safety, you can give me a blaster."
Looks of disbelief were passed around.
"I suggested that because I'm assuming you won't consent to just give me a lightsaber," Ben laughed to himself as he successfully called them on their bluff. Sure enough, they were more concerned he'd try something than that he'd be attacked.
"We don't mind the extra assignment," Mixa spoke up. "But I'm confident Ben will keep his word to stay put during the night."
"I have no interest to leave right now," Ben nodded at Mixa, appreciating his support. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me for the time being."
Rey and Rose shared meaningful glances, silently communicating with each other. It was interesting to watch them interact without a word. They seemed to come to an agreement and Rose turned to Ben.
"I'll lift the order for setting a guard on you while you sleep. In return, you'll promise to stay in your tent for the hours stipulated by Captain Ivin or other members of the leadership, and you'll help us train our fighters," Rose laid out the new plan. "Is that agreeable to you?"
Ben took a sip of filtered water as he considered the offer. It still put him in a cage but offered a little bit of freedom. He'd take it and keep chipping away at all their restrictions.
"Agreed," he nodded, smiling to himself in victory. This was going to be fun.
-oOoOoOo-
Rey's eyes snapped open as she was woken from a deep sleep. Something had jarred her from her slumber. There it was again! A shuffling noise. It was distant, so she couldn't understand why it'd woken her up. Perhaps it was because she'd changed tents with Megyad so she could be closer to Ben. That'd been one of the silent tradeoffs she and Rose had agreed on as a result of pulling Ben's guards during the night. Her new location was closer to the jungle and the night critters were louder.
Rey huffed quietly and snuggled back into her blanket, irritation rising in her as she couldn't get back to sleep. Her insides felt jittery and she was filled with nervous energy. Ugh, she was going to crawl out of her skin!
The shuffling noise came again, this time right by her head. Rey bolted upright into a sitting position and grappled for a lightsaber. Her heart thundered in her chest as she registered someone was in her tent. She activated her lightsaber, the light from the blue beam illuminating the tent.
"Stars above!" Ben yelled, jumping a foot into the air.
"What are you doing?" Rey asked angrily. What ever happened to common courtesy? Thank goodness she always slept in her clothes.
"I'm pacing," Ben said, resuming his trek inside her tent. "I can't sleep."
"No, what are you doing in my tent?" Rey fought to keep her voice level. He better have a good explanation.
"I'm not," Ben said, swiping his hand through the tent fabric as he passed it. His hand went through the cloth without disrupting it. "I didn't even notice the dyad connected us. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
Rey grumbled to herself. Their dyad had the worst timing. They had to get a handle on it so it only activated when they wanted it to!
"Apology accepted," she said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. The rush of adrenaline she'd gotten reacting to the intruder in her tent was fading away. "What's wrong?"
"Can't sleep," Ben said shortly, pacing even faster.
Rey grabbed her timepiece and blearily looked at the blinking digits. "It's too early. The sun hasn't even risen." And it wouldn't for at least a few more hours.
"I know," Ben nodded. He waved a hand at her. "Go back to sleep. The connection should dissipate on its own if we pay it no attention."
Rey sighed. She couldn't just ignore Ben. He was going to go stir-crazy if he didn't release that excess energy. It would result in someone getting hurt and they would both get blamed for it.
"Put on some warm clothes," Rey said as she grabbed a sweater and pulled it on. The thick threads trapped heat, blocking the cool air from getting through to her skin. The star system's sun had yet to rotate back towards the jungle moon, so it was cold most days but especially during the nights.
"Why?" Ben said, never stopping in his erratic pacing.
"We're going running," Rey said as she deactivated the lightsaber. Ben stopped his pacing, his incredulous expression visible in the dim lighting. "Think of it as a challenge," Rey coaxed him.
"You're on," Ben smiled widely. His black leather jacket materialized as he shrugged it on. He dissolved into the tent fabric as the connection faded.
Rey walked out of her tent, yawning as she crossed the threshold. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark; her surroundings were only visible by the light of the stars. Ben was bouncing up and down on the heels of his feet as he waited for her outside his tent several feet away. When she reached him, he started walking quickly towards the tree line. She quickened her steps to keep up with him. She suppressed another yawn as they broke into a fast-paced run.
The last vestiges of sleep left Rey as they raced through the jungle. Ben was right at her side, practically vibrating with energy. Her senses expanded, pinpointing their path and acknowledging the sleeping critters in the trees and underground caverns. After they went down the incline, she guided Ben towards the river. The sound of rushing water was loud and the air turned brisk. The plants growing alongside the river glowed strongly in blue, purple, and pink and illuminated their path. She'd done the run a few times in the dark and learned these plants were bioluminescent.
After Rey led Ben through one round of the run, she felt comfortable enough to hold a conversation. They knew the path well enough to not step into the divots or holes in the ground.
"So what's going on?" Rey asked. She was worried. Ben was still far too exuberant.
"I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep," Ben said as he pushed them faster. "The last time I felt like this, I'd just woken up from a coma."
"A coma?" Rey gasped.
"It happened about seven years ago," Ben said nonchalantly. "I walked into a trap and was blasted by an amateur bomb. It shredded my right arm and most of my torso and broke four of my ribs. They told me after I woke up that my lung was punctured during transit to the healer. I was in a bacta tank for almost a month after the surgery."
Rey was aghast, yet also amazed he'd survived.
"But the point is that after I woke up, I had a lot of energy I just couldn't seem to expend," Ben said.
"How did you deal with it last time?" Rey asked curiously. Perhaps they could duplicate it here.
Silence hung in the air as they ran, only their footsteps making noise.
"It's not an option here," Ben eventually said as they started the third round.
"Ah," Rey said in discomfort, understanding his long silence. Whatever he'd done, it wasn't good.
"I think the running is helping," Ben said in a brighter tone, eager to move the conversation forward. "I'm not feeling as... frantic."
"Do you think it's a side effect of recovering from the Bekrian Shadow plague?" Rey asked.
"It could be," Ben said pensively. He brightened up. "This means my connection to the Force isn't truly cut off!" He shook a wrist at her, showing off the black metal cuff. "If it were, I wouldn't have been able to take in the energy I needed to heal."
"Or forge a dyad connection," Rey added on. Since that aspect of their bond was still operational, the suppressor cuffs weren't as infallible as advertised. She wondered if they would still be able to pass items to each other as they had on Exogol.
As they approached the midpoint of the run during the ninth round, Ben started slowing down and was panting during the uphill portions. Rey reduced her speed to accommodate him. She thanked her lucky stars he was finally running out of steam. The sun's rays were peeking over the horizon, turning the air golden and signaling the start of another day. The bioluminescent plants were starting to lose their glow, turning back into a dark green color.
Rey sipped from a water flask she'd had the forethought to bring, and then handed it to Ben. As they caught their breath, she studied him. He seemed to be fully recovered from his illness; he wasn't unusually out of breath and his limbs weren't shaking from undue exertion.
"We should test the dyad," Ben suggested after he drained half the liquid in the flask.
"What do you mean?" Rey asked.
"It's a little annoying it activates without our say-so," Ben said as he stretched his legs.
"Uh-huh," Rey said, distracted by the sight of his muscles expanding and contracting, visible even under several layers of clothing.
"And if my abilities are supposed to be repressed, then how is the dyad able to connect us?" Ben wondered as he raised his arms in a revealing stretch.
"Maybe it's powered separately," Rey suggested, blushing and averting her gaze, choosing instead to stare at a firefly floating towards a long stalk of grass.
"Which brings me back to my original suggestion," Ben said, picking up the water flask and taking another swig. "We should test it."
"Good idea," Rey thought about it. "Why don't you run halfway back to the base to that gnarled tree by the bush with pink flowers? We can practice making a connection."
Ben nodded. He handed the flask back and took off in a run. Rey sat down on a flat rock and shivered as her bottom made contact with the cold surface. She thought about the river and her mind settled as she connected with the Force. She shifted her thoughts towards Ben through their connection. A shimmer went through her.
"Well, it worked."
Rey opened her eyes to see Ben in front of her.
"I can't see your surroundings though," Rey frowned. She'd been able to see where he was before.
"I can't either," Ben said, his eyes flicking around her silhouette. "Try putting more energy into it."
Rey closed her eyes again and focused on diverting energy into the bond. The Force came to her bidding quickly; it became easier the more she devoted herself to the practice. More powerful shimmers passed through her, making goosebumps rise on her skin. She opened her eyes and she smiled. Ben was clearly standing next to a gnarled tree surrounded by bushes with pink flowers; the top branches of the tree were cut off and blurry, but she'd succeeded in bringing most of the objects around Ben into focus.
"Can you see the river behind me?" Rey queried, wondering if the effect was two-fold.
"Yes," Ben nodded. "But it's faint, probably because I can't funnel energy towards the dyad that well," His brow furrowed as he concentrated.
His surroundings became more clear and Rey could see the top of the gnarled tree now, where a small bird had alighted on one of the topmost branches. It chirped, the sound coming through bright and clear.
"That's amazing," Rey smiled. This was the clearest sign yet that Ben's abilities weren't truly locked away.
"It's something," Ben said, but there was a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"Let's see if you can end it and restart it on your own," Rey leaned forward in anticipation, eager to test the limits of their bond.
Ben closed his eyes. Several minutes passed. Rey shifted as her butt went numb on the cold stone. Then Ben's image disappeared, there one moment and gone the next. She felt a presence in the back of her mind and she had to suppress the urge to look over her shoulder, knowing there wasn't anyone there. Then Ben reappeared in front of her, a bead of sweat on his brow.
"That took more effort than I wanted," Ben said, disgruntled.
"But you were able to initiate the connection on your own," Rey pointed out. "That will come in handy if you ever need to contact me and can't reach me through the conventional methods."
"Unlikely we'll ever need that," Ben shrugged. "Someone is always on my heels."
"I feel better knowing it," Rey said with a hint of a smile. She stood and stretched before dipping her hand into the slower stream of water and picking up a flat river rock. This was as good a time as any to test her other idea. "Here." She extended her hand and dropped the stone into Ben's waiting hand.
The rock fell and passed through him and landed with a thump on the ground. Rey frowned and picked it up. Recalling the feelings she'd felt when passing the lightsaber to Ben on Exogol, she tried to duplicate her actions and add more power to the action. Ben moved to grab the stone as she dropped it, but it passed through his fingers.
"Damn it," Ben muttered.
"Let's both put more power into the connection," Rey suggested.
They both became still as they concentrated on fueling energy into the dyad. Their surroundings brightened and became so clear that Rey could almost believe she could reach out and make contact with the brown wood of the gnarled tree or the soft petals of the pink flowers. Rey reached out and confidently placed the still-wet stone into Ben's hand. The stone hovered in mid-air before dropping heavily to the ground.
"Almost," Rey bent down to grab the stone. "I bet if we-"
"Leave it," Ben said, irritation coming through their bond. He wiped off the water droplets on his pants. "It's not working. I'm not devoting any more energy to it."
"We just need to take another approach," Rey assured him, already thinking of what else they could try. "It worked before on Ahch-To and Exogol."
"When I wasn't chained up like an animal," Ben sneered, rubbing the black metal of one of the cuffs.
Rey's heart dropped at the lost expression on his face. He was trying his best to remain unaffected by this setback, but he was devastated at yet another reminder he was basically powerless.
"Why don't we head back and get some training in before the day starts?" Rey offered, changing the subject to something less painful. "It's early enough that no one will bother us."
"Okay," Ben nodded, pulling himself together. Though composed outwardly, the bond betrayed his fraught inner emotions.
"I'll be there in a second," Rey said, swiping the water flask off the ground and tucking it back into her belt.
Ben cut off the dyad connection as she ran down the path they'd worn down. Minutes later, Rey relaxed as Ben came into view. He'd stayed put and waited for her, choosing to spend the time snapping off the pink flower stems from the bushes. The ground at his feet was littered with crushed petals and the air was heavy with the flowers' scent.
"Shall we?" Rey gestured in the direction of the base.
Ben nodded and broke into a run. Rey kept pace with him and pushed soothing emotions through the bond, letting him know it was going to be okay. Behind his mental barriers, the tornado of wild emotion calmed and their punishing pace slowed into a light jog.
Their muscles were nicely warmed as they re-entered the base, which was still deserted at this early hour. They quietly snuck into the training grounds. Rey opened one of the metal storage bins to grab an electrostaff when an excellent idea came to her. She cast her senses out, her mind brushing against several Resistance fighters, all of whom were sleeping.
Excellent! It was so early, the sun had barely risen and due to the colder temperatures, everyone was rising later than usual. Who was going to protest if she gave Ben a lightsaber? She closed the bin and reached down to her waist to grab one. Her hand closed around Luke's lightsaber before she realized it was probably a bad idea to hand him that weapon. Due to his less than stellar history with the lightsaber, it'd probably traumatize Ben more to handle the weapon than to fight against it. She unclipped Leia's lightsaber from her belt and extended it towards Ben.
He stared at her, uncomprehending. Rey suppressed a giggle; he looked so much like Luke had the first time they'd met atop one of Ahch-To's outcroppings.
"Take it," Rey nodded at the lightsaber.
"Are you serious?" Ben asked, slowly reaching out and closing his fingers over the cool metal.
"Yes," Rey affirmed. "No one's around."
Unbridled joy lit up their bond like a brush fire and Rey smiled at his enthusiasm. Ben opened a panel on the lightsaber and fiddled with the circuitry to set the weapon on low power. Rey did the same to her lightsaber. She tested the energy beam against the storage bin, satisfied when the metal didn't even heat up. She turned back to Ben and gasped as she saw he was testing the beam on himself.
"Stop that!" Rey chastised him, grabbing his wrist and yanking it and the lightsaber away from his palm. The skin was red but undamaged. "Are you crazy?"
"I wasn't in any danger," Ben took possession of his hand back. "I don't get things like this wrong."
"There's always a first time," Rey scowled in disapproval.
"Stop worrying so much," Ben teased her, swinging the lightsaber in tight figure-eights around his body before sinking into a fighting stance. He beckoned for her to make the first move. "Let's see if you can beat me now."
Rey smirked and went into the motions of a new offensive attack series she'd been working on. It took the defensive moves of Form III and combined them with the aggressive attack strategy of Form IV. Perhaps this would finally trip Ben up.
She lasted two minutes before Ben landed a winning blow to her hip.
"You're getting better," Ben complimented her as he withdrew.
"I've been practicing on my own," Rey admitted. It was easier to experiment with new techniques out in the jungle and no humanoid eyes to judge her.
Ben launched into another slow version of an attack series, this one she didn't recognize from any book. Rey opened herself to the Force, falling into the comforting routine of diverting energy towards herself. She saw his movements a split second before he made them and easily moved her blade to catch each strike. Soon, she found an opening in his defenses she could exploit. She lunged at Ben's leg, feinting and whipping the blade around to his chest. But Ben's lightsaber jabbed a stinging blow to her leg first and he dodged to avoid her blade.
"Kriff," Rey muttered, stepping back and admitting defeat for this round. "I had you that time."
"You should have," Ben frowned, going pensive. "Your footwork was good and your movements were fluid. So why didn't you win?" He said the last part aloud, but it was more for him.
"I must need more practice," Rey reset her stance.
"Yes..."
Ben began another attack series, but she should tell he was a little distracted. She attempted to use this to her advantage, but he still won with infuriating ease. They kept sparring as the sun came up fully, going through the motions at a moderate pace so Rey could build up memory muscle. By the time she could sense people awakening and moving around the base, she was ready to stop training. Her legs and ankles were sore from all the hits they'd taken from Ben's lightsaber; there were even a few stinging remnants from hits to her bottom. She hadn't been able to parry strikes to those areas as easily as blows to her torso or head and now she was paying for it. Grumbling to herself, she sent healing energy to the affected areas.
"Again?" she asked, hiding her reluctance to continue.
"No," Ben said, turning off his blade. His eyes flicked to something over her shoulder.
Rey turned to see a group of Resistance fighters staring at them, half-hidden in the shadow of the mountain of storage containers. They looked a little nervous, but not outright angry.
"I'm sure they won't mind," Rey said, turning back.
"I'm not performing for an audience," he said. "I'll save that for the training session later today."
"Yes, that will certainly be interesting," Rey hoped it wouldn't dissolve into a shitshow. His match yesterday with Winn had been quite civilized though, so she bore hope all would be well.
"Here," Ben willingly relinquished his lightsaber to her. "Your Resistance isn't ready for me to carry around a lightsaber."
Rey smiled at the reminder of his first day where he'd drawn a lightsaber right in front of the base's fighters before careening off the waterfall. "No, I may end up with a riot on my hands."
"As fun as that would be, I don't want to deal with that today," Ben said with half a laugh.
The comlink on Rey's hip buzzed urgently. She sighed, clipping both lightsabers back onto her belt before unclipping the comlink and answering it.
"Rey, Ben isn't in his tent," Mixa said with a hint of panic in his voice. "He's not at the wash facilities or down by the river. I'm coordinating a search strategy with Aarzio and Sertali now. I just wanted to let you know first."
"Stand down, Mixa," Rey cut across him smoothly. "Ben is here with me. He couldn't sleep, so we went running and then we ended up in the training grounds."
"Oh, thank the stars," Mixa sighed in relief, the gust of air crackling over the comm.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you, but it was very early in the morning," Rey apologized, feeling guilty. They'd just pulled Ben's guard detail for the night shift, so Mixa must be feeling like shit that Ben had disappeared on the first night.
"It's your prerogative, commander," Mixa said, once again professional.
The captain appeared at the edge of the training grounds, his blue eyes searching for them. His red skin lightened a few shades as he found them, visibly showing his relief. He and Rey ended the comlink connection so they could speak in person. Aarzio and Sertali also appeared from the sea of tents, joining Mixa as he strode towards them. They looked harried and sleep-deprived. Aarzio's hair was sticking up in every direction and Sertali's fur was matted in a few places. The pit in Rey's stomach grew heavier. Mixa must have had them up for some time searching needlessly for Ben.
"I'm really sorry," Rey apologized again. "I should have left you a message, at the very least."
"That would be best for next time, commander," Mixa nodded curtly. He appraised Ben in a quick glance from head to toe. "I trust everything is well?"
"Yes, I'm feeling better," Ben affirmed. "A morning run is just what I needed. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin."
"Good for you," Aarzio muttered under his breath, rubbing his eyes and yawning. "I, on the other hand, am exhausted."
"Why don't you go get some rest?" Rey suggested to the three fatigued Resistance fighters. "It is an hour until morning meal will be ready. I'll look after Ben until then."
"Don't need a babysitter," Ben grumbled.
They all ignored him.
"I don't need any rest, commander," Sertali spoke up. "I haven't been running myself ragged doing a futile search for the past few hours." She leveled a disapproving glance at the two men.
"Aarzio and I were already awake when we discovered Ben was missing," Mixa defended himself.
"We didn't see the point in waking you when we could handle it ourselves," Aarzio shrugged, fighting through another yawn.
"Well, now you're paying for it," Sertali rolled her eyes and swished her tail through the air sharply. "Go get some rest. I'll accompany Ben for the morning shift."
Mixa wavered. "If you're sure."
"Yes," Sertali said simply.
"Kriffing Sith hells, go get some sleep!" Ben said explosively, his frustration undercut by a faint note of concern. "You two wouldn't be able to dog my footsteps right now if your lives depended on it! You look like you're about to drop."
"Fine," Mixa muttered, finally relenting. "I'll get some sleep after the morning meeting with the leadership." He and Aarzio walked off.
Rey cursed to herself and checked her timepiece. She was going to be late for her meeting at the command center. She and Rose met with the other commanders and the base captains every other day to discuss base logistics and work schedules. She'd completely forgotten about it.
"I have to get going," Rey said, already beginning to walk off. "Ben, I'll see you later at the base weapons training session."
"Ok," Ben nodded.
Rey hurried off, following Mixa who was supporting Aarzio. She helped the captain drop off the exhausted pilot in his tent. Mixa walked on ahead of her to the command center, his demeanor completely closing out any options for a conversation. Rey sighed and sped up, brainstorming ideas to make it up to him for her lack of judgment.
-oOoOoOo-
"You're holding it wrong," Ben admonished the Resistance fighter brandishing their staff like a bat. "Like this," He demonstrated the proper grip on his own unpowered electrostaff.
The fighter adjusted their grip but didn't thank him. Ungrateful bastard. Ben rolled his eyes and moved on, looking for other mistakes to correct. Rey had introduced him as a new instructor for the training sessions. The announcement had received mixed reactions from the gathered people. Some had been outraged while others who hadn't vocally protested glared at him. It didn't bother him. He was comfortable in this new assignment since it gave him a reason to fight with the Resistance fighters. Even if it wasn't to the death, he felt calmer than he had since he'd been brought to the base.
"Am I doing this right?" asked a hardened young woman as he passed.
Ben watched for a few moments as she engaged her partner in a mock battle. He wondered why the First Order had such trouble beating the Resistance.
"No," Ben said curtly. "You're leaving yourself open for attack. Keep your staff closer to your body to defend yourself. The staff is simultaneously your weapon and your shield."
He motioned for the sparring partner to step aside. He tightened his grip on his staff and swung lightly at her. She caught the strike neatly on her staff. He moved at a moderate speed into the next blow and she overextended herself to catch it. His staff landed with a thump on her ribs.
"Ouch!" she shrieked.
"You might fare better using a defensive strategy," Ben said as he considered her limited options. "Attack me and I'll show you."
She huffed and did as he asked, striking at him with clumsy blows. He moved back, overexaggerating his movements as he parried. Ben shoved her back to break off the attack when he thought he'd demonstrated the technique enough. "Now you try," he said shortly before making wide swings at her.
Her eyes creased at the edges as she concentrated. To her credit, she was making an effort to keep her staff closer to her body, but she made it look so awkward.
"Good, keep working on it," Ben muttered after a few minutes.
"What about hitting my opponent?" she questioned as he turned away. "I need to be able to do that."
"Work on your defense first," Ben ordered. "Once you can defend yourself, Rey can show you how to attack properly."
He moved on, having made his point. Winn was fighting with the electrorods again. Ben noted with approval he had taken the previous day's lessons to heart. Even though he hated the bastard, he grudgingly respected him for suspending his rivalry to learn how to fight better.
"Ben!"
He looked towards the person and grimaced inwardly. Tawna was calling him over. He headed over, steeling himself. Her hair was up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face, the green-tinged scales around her forehead more visible now.
"We need your help," Tawna said as he drew close.
Her demeanor was polite, but her words were stilted. She probably still hadn't forgiven him for rebuffing her advances and then endangering her and her baby's life. Her belly was visibly swelling with child now, the Jixiti baby developing a lot quicker than most humanoids.
"Sek'min and I were hoping you could show us what to expect during a real fight," Tawna said, gesturing to herself and her Twi'lek partner. "I mean, we can't realistically expect stormtroopers to attack us one at a time."
"You aren't ready for that yet," Ben cut her off. "You've just started training with the staff."
"I think we are," Tawna said, gritting her teeth. "Watch." She nodded to Sek'min to put up his staff.
Ben watched in amazement as they fought, effortlessly striking and parrying. They were quite good. Tawna won when she knocked Sek'min's staff from his hands and stopped short of landing a blow to his head. She turned to Ben with a smug grin.
"I stand corrected," Ben refused to let a blush rise to his cheeks at having made a wrong assumption.
"My mate, Tarazal, taught me how to fight," Tawna said with a sad smile. "We didn't always have access to blasters."
"So what is it you want from me?" Ben asked.
"How do I fight against multiple opponents?" Tawna clarified her question. "Or how do I fight with someone else against a common enemy?" She nodded towards Sek'min.
"The key is to be aware of where each person is during the fight, no matter what side they're on," Ben said. He questioned why she would be in the middle of a fight and why she would need a staff since she already had claws and fangs at her disposal. He supposed she wanted to be prepared, whatever the situation was. "Since you're already familiar with the staff, let's go through a mock battle. You'll both be on the same side against me." He relished the opportunity to break up the monotonous one-on-one 'fights'.
Tawna and Sek'min nodded their acquiescence and dropped into fighting poses. Ben swung his electrostaff at the Twi'lek before directing it towards Tawna. They both caught his strikes and retaliated with their own. Ben pressed them back, attacking both equally. He had to remind himself to restrain the power behind his blows as the heat of a potential battle crept up on him and urged him to destroy his opponents. He took care to avoid Tawna's mid-section as he lunged forward.
They were doing well, so Ben sped up his movements to see if they could keep up; he also started moving around them and alternating strikes to their head and knees. Here, their confidence began to falter and their movements slowed. Tawna accidentally got in Sek'min's way and received a light tap on her shoulder as he pulled the blow.
"I see what you mean," Tawna said to Ben, miffed. She nodded to her sparring partner. "Sorry, Sek'min. I lost track of where you were."
"No harm done," Sek'min assured her. "Are you alright?"
Tawna waved him off impatiently as Ben rolled his eyes. Sek'min shouldn't brush that off as nothing!
"There was definitely harm done," Ben refuted the Twi'lek's statement. "You would have zapped your partner unconscious and then you'd both be dead."
"We'll get it right," Sek'min patiently assured him, not at all fazed by Ben's aggression. "We just need to practice it a bit more. This is quite different from handling a blaster."
"Point and shoot. What technique is there to that?" Ben scoffed in derision. "Even a squadron of stormtroopers can hit something if they all fire in the same direction."
"Where did we go wrong?" Tawna asked, eager to get them back on track. She stepped closer, gazing up at him with those luminous eyes.
"You need to be able to adapt. A stormtrooper won't always be in front of you," Ben coached her, as he reiterated his movements from earlier in a circle around her. "Always keep your opponent in front of you."
Tawna turned to keep him in her field of view. "Like this?"
"Better," Ben nodded and gestured for Sek'min to join in.
The three of them slowly rotated in a circle. Tawna and Sek'min worked out how to move around Ben while not running into each other. It took a while, but they figured out a way to do it. Ben brought the weapons back into the mix, swinging his electrostaff at them at an infuriatingly slow pace. They did well and stayed out of each other's way this time.
Ben smiled as Tawna landed a blow to his neck, stopping just short of making it painful. "You win."
"Yes, I did!" Tawna beamed happily. She giggled as she withdrew her weapon. "Now I just need to find the slowest stormtrooper in the First Order."
"We'll work on your speed next," Ben said, his lips pulling up in a reluctant smile.
His amusement faded away as Tawna continued to beam up at him, a bewitching scent filling the air. She swayed forward, almost involuntarily, to bury her nose in his shirt and inhale deeply. Ben leaped back, shocked at her audacity. Tawna came back to herself and distress filled her eyes as she realized what she'd done.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Tawna said, a ruddy blush filling her cheeks. "I didn't mean-"
"Don't worry about it," Ben muttered as Sek'min moved to comfort the Jixiti. He shifted uncomfortably as Tawna continued to look as though she'd been kicked. "Someone else needs me," Ben said and walked away, though it was painfully obvious he wasn't being called away.
Ugh, he hated awkward encounters. What the hell had that been for? He would research Jixiti customs and behavior to satiate his curiosity, but he doubted the Resistance would let him anywhere near a device he could also use to contact the First Order.
Ben made a beeline for the other side of the training grounds, ignoring several people who tried to pull him aside to ask for guidance and glaring at one person who tried to trip him. The guilty Resistance fighter gulped and cowardly turned back to his sparring partner and tried to pretend nothing happened. Luckily for him, Ben didn't care about him right now.
Ben grabbed a water bottle and a couple of the bright red fruits with purple flecks from a table. Food had been harvested and set out as snacks for the trainees during the session. He drained half the bottle in a few gulps; he was being careful to hydrate after the massive headache he'd gotten earlier during the mid-day shift with Aarzio at the shipyards. Mixa had almost sent him back to the med tent, but Ben had won that battle.
Ben hefted himself onto one of the storage bins that had been warmed by the soft glow of the sun. It was still brisk and there was some frost on the ground, but the sun was out and making it a nice day. He had a good view of all the Resistance fighters doing their best to learn how to fight with a staff or electrorod. Rey was moving about, demonstrating moves and answering the fighters' questions; she was patient and understanding as she interacted with people. Ben watched this with jealousy, wondering why he'd never developed those traits; even in his younger years, he'd never been all that patient. He'd gotten into a lot of scrapes due to his short temper. He polished off the fruit, nibbling all the remnants off of the flat pit.
Rey was using a pair of electrorods today. She moved fluidly as she sparred, her feet solid as she bent like a reed in the wind. Ben bit into another sweet fruit and he admired her form as she demonstrated a simple maneuver. His eyes narrowed the longer he watched. While her technique was solid, she was hesitating at times. The Resistance fighter was finding openings in Rey's defense that she should have easily been able to block, but she chose to dodge instead.
Ben couldn't pinpoint exactly why Rey was missing those easy deflections, but he realized this had always bothered him, since the first time they'd fought. The thought had been in the back of his mind, but something more important had always been overshadowing it. He watched Rey through this new lens, critically examining her movements to figure out exactly what was bothering him. What could it be? Ben grew frustrated as the answer continued to elude him.
"Ben?"
Ben snapped his gaze to Aarzio, who'd materialized beside him.
"What?" Ben said.
"Training is over," Aarzio picked up the electrostaff Ben had put down. "Time for grub."
"Already?" Ben looked around. People were indeed winding down and packing the staffs and electrorods away.
"Yeah," Aarzio said as he tossed the weapon to a Resistance fighter storing the electrostaffs. "Looked like you dozed off there. Daydream anything interesting?"
"I didn't doze off," Ben said, drinking the rest of the water in his flask.
"Don't worry. I won't tell Rey," Aarzio smirked.
"Tell me what?" Rey asked as she bounded up to them.
"Nothing," Ben hopped down from the storage bin. "Let's eat."
"Did you find an answer to your question?" Rey asked as they walked with the group to the canteen.
"What question?" Ben asked offhandedly as a comms person walked too close to him. He glared at her and she stuck her tongue out at him as she passed.
"The one you won't tell me about," Rey clarified. "It's been vexing you all day."
"Oh. No, I haven't," Ben put his focus back on her. He didn't want to say anything until he figured out what was going on. "I'll let you know when I have the answer."
The problem was he didn't have a clue what was going on. Oh well. Ben brushed away his concern. Whatever it was, it would come to him.
A/N: Hmm, what could possibly be going on with Rey's form? What did Ben notice?