A New Beginning
Rey lay in her bunk of the Millennium Falcon curled under a wool blanket asleep. Her hands clenched the scratchy material to her chest as she began to toss her head at the images of the memory of that fateful night on Snoke's ship, the Supremacy. The nightmare continued even though she tried to will it away. She did not want to relive Snoke's desecrating hold. Kylo Ren stands behind her as Snoke Force holds Rey in place, searching every dark corner of her mind in hopes of finding the key to the Resistance. The presence of his mind defiles those things Rey never dare share with anyone. Thoughts of abandonment, fear, and most of all loneliness scour her mind, open to the Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke searched her life, wanting to find her weakness. Images, no, memories of her as a girl flash before her. She is back on Jakku. The wind is blowing sand around her as she squinted up at the sky. Her parents left her there almost two years ago, but she stands there, looking up with fear and sadness. Rey was starving, her bones were beginning to peek through underneath her skin. Adjusting to life on Jakku, left her helpless. She was only a little girl, rummaging through old starships from the Battle of Jakku, unable to fend for herself. The little girl barely found enough reclaimed items in exchange for food. She was lucky if she got one portion from the Crolute. Rey licked her dry and flaking lips as the barren desert sun blared down at her. Even though she was abandoned, she always looked to the sky in hopes someone would come and whisk her away for an adventure through the stars. Hope was all that Rey ever had in her life, the hope that her parents would come back for her. So, she kept searching for lost treasures for the Crolute even though she felt the effects of starvation, she knew she had to keep going.
The images flash to two scavengers that showed mercy to the starving child, Ivano Troade, and an Aqualish named Marshra. The two employed her, fed her. Such kindness was a rarity on the planet where every man was for himself. As her skills as a Jakku scavenger grew, she realized that she did not need their mercy and kindness any longer. At this time Rey was older and could fend for herself. She began to work alone. Later, Rey found a downed AT-AT on the reaches of the desert and made it her shelter. She scavenged the machine for parts, learning the mechanics and how it worked. All that time on Jakku hardened her, marked by etches carved into the steel walls of the ancient AT-AT to count the days waiting for her parents taught her how to survive. Plutt noticed the girl's uncanny ability to find hidden treasures from the ships of the Galactic Civil War and made it clear that she is not to be touched due to her pure talent. But she did not need it, she had gained the reputation from her ability to use her quarterstaff. Snoke moved on within her memories to when she found a helmet that belonged to a pilot. He could see her putting it on her head running around pretending to fly across the galaxy on wild adventures with a cloth doll she made out of a tattered uniform. But when Rey was older she could not discard the items, serving as a reminder at how far she had come on the barren planet of Jakku.
The image shifted to her on an old computer learning a range of alien dialects to even binary languages for droids. The computer had flight simulations that taught her how to fly, and schematics of old ships that trained her as a pilot. All of these things made Rey into the young woman she is, a skilled mechanic, linguist, fighter, and pilot. The day that the defected stormtrooper began to play in front of Snoke and Rey. It was just an ordinary day. She was eating her portion she earned that previous day when she heard a noise from an astromech droid and rushed toward the commotion with her staff in hand. She found the droid, BB-8, had been captured by a Teedo scavenger. Rescuing the droid she learned it had been captured by the First Order and was on a classified mission for the Resistance. The next day they had set out for the Niima Outpost, being attacked by a band of scavengers. They wanted the droid. Rey managed to make two of them crash their speeders and tricked the third. Finally making it to Unkar Plutt's booth she offered a pile of scrap. He did not bargain many portions in exchange for the scrap, but he wagered sixty for the droid. She was tempted for half a second at the exorbitant amount of food offered, but she could not let herself.
Snoke let the memory play out because this day, he knew, was the day that the Force had awoken within her. Plutt did not like being told no, especially by this girl. He sicced his thugs on her and the astromech droid. A fight ensued, Rey and BB-8 ran through the outpost trying to fend off the thugs. During the fight, BB-8 caught a glimpse of a man wearing a jacket that belongs to its master and alerted Rey. The man ran off as Rey chased him, but being knowledgeable of the Niima Outpost and having a natural inclination for combat, she cornered the man. She found out that his name was Finn and that he was with the Resistance. He explained that he saved a man named Poe Dameron and was helping him find a map to find a Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. During the course of the conversation, they were spotted by a group of stormtroopers on a mission to find the valuable droid. Fleeing the stormtroopers they were attacked by TIE-Fighters. Snoke had seen all he wanted to see. Rey is snapped out of the memories of her time spent on Jakku. She begins to cry and falls to her knees. Feeling the darkness to latch on to her memories. Rey strains against Snoke's hold, feeling him clutch her being tighten.
"I see," Snoke coughs a deathly cough as he contemplates the images, still holding Rey. "A nobody from Jakku, a sad and pathetic little girl. Left alone, to die in a desert." Tears run down her face as she struggles to fight against Snoke's tight grip. She feels as though her mind is being ripped apart at the seams. Her hand shoots out trying in earnest to use the force to pull the lightsaber to her hand, but Snoke is too powerful. Kylo Ren stands, fighting inner turmoil as he watches this stupid girl fight against his master. He knows he should let her die, but something, deep, deep down tells him that this is not the way Rey is to die. Kylo's fingers twitch willing the Force against the lightsaber that sits to the left of Snoke. It twitches, slightly, silently as it turned towards Snoke. It ignites in a fiery rage and slices through Snoke's torso, ripping and cauterizing as it goes. Snoke's hold on Rey drops as Rey falls to her knee as the Red Guard advances. Rey breathless and confused stands slowly, looking at Kylo Ren's black eyes. The bond tugs between them and Rey knows what they need to do. Rey summons her lightsaber, still burning next to Snoke's dead body. She twirls the handle in her hand. An angry cry escapes her as she rushes the Red Guard, Kylo following her lead.
"Rey…" It's Kylo. The scene of that night stops as she shifts in her bed. Her eyes open to the dark, nothing is there. She swings her legs over the edge of the bunk. The automated lights switch-on. His voice haunts her mind. Something so sad and scared lingers in his voice. Looking up she sees something dark shift in the corner of her eye. She summons her light staff into her palm. Hitting with a hollow slap. She jumps out of her bunk.
"Rey…" The haunting voice calls again, Kylo, there, sitting on the floor looking at his hands in terror. She is taken aback by this image of him. Never seeing him like this, his hair is wet and pressed to his face. His eyes not daring to meet hers. This is so unlike his cold, composed image he portrays. Rey stands there, glaring down at him, reliving his evil trespasses over in her mind. Anger began to creep on the tips of her ears. Her chest rising and falling in heavy, short breaths. She closed her eyes as she took deep breaths to balance her mind.
"Why are you here, snake?" She spits out. The bond tugs at her chest. A wave of terror, sadness, and guilt washes over Rey like a wave crashing over a cliffside, forcing her to her knees. The air was forced out of her lungs as she hit the floor in front of him. His eyes slowly peer up at her through his dark wet locks. His eyes burn with sadness.
"Rey, I- I am so scared…" his voice is soft and honest. She shifts her weight as her hand softly reaches out to the sad creature before her. She does not even think about what she is doing before she does it. It is her nature to reach out to people in need, always. Even treacherous, murderous snakes. Her hand falls back to the ground. He looks so raw. She swallows nervously. Her hand began to rise again as their eyes locked into each other. Kylo's hand slowly rises to meet her, their eyes never faltering. The soft pads of her fingers meet his as quiet gasp escapes them. Their minds connect. Images of Ben, the real Ben as a boy. Leia is smiling down at him as she brushes his unruly, curly hair out of his eyes. She feels the love between him and his mother. The pure love shared echoed through the bond they share that tugs at her heart. The next image comes too fast. Han Solo is staring at him. They stood on the grated metal bridge of the thermal oscillator in the core Star Killer's base. Kylo Ren was breathing heavily as his father inched closer, begging him to come back with him, even though he had done so many terrible things since he left Luke's school. He wanted to take Han Solo's hand and run away from Snoke, but something dark called within him. His father could see the fight in his soul. Ben was aching for his father, wanting to be his son again and just go home. But as his father embraced him, he ignited the red sword through Han Solo's torso, ripping him apart. The shocked father grasped his wound as the sword retracted from his body. Kylo Ren breaks the connection first. His breathing is fast and quick. His eyes fall back to his hands, seeing all the blood he shed on them. Embarrassment fills his chest as a sweat broke out on his forehead. How could he be so trusting of his enemy? A girl that has sworn to protect everything good. A warrior of the Light. Inner turmoil is all but unfamiliar to Kylo Ren. The battle of Dark versus Light raging deep down to his inner being, his soul. Her eyes, soft brown, tracing his face in silence, not knowing what to do or what to say to her.
"I am so-" Kylo Ren starts, never being able to say the words. Rey on edge of every word, waiting for him to begin to redeem himself, but he cannot. His face contorted into something twisted. Angry, his eyebrows furrowed, casting a dark shadow over his black eyes. Rey's breath hitches as, darkness, anger, and hate drift through the bond. Not from her, but Kylo Ren.
"Pathetic, a nobody, a stupid girl" he spits out at her. A pang that hits her deep in her chest. But she does not look away, determined as ever to be strong. Kylo Ren's jaw clenches as he stares down at this pathetic excuse of a Jedi. He hates her. Hates the way she drives doubt at his innermost personal beliefs. The familiar emotion of rage began to shower him as she stared at him unphased by him lashing out at her like a scared animal. He could not let her in, not ever. If he did, and she saw the true person he was, she would just betray him like everyone else he loved had. He could not let himself be drawn into her like that and give himself over to her, just to be hurt.
"I hate you. Don't you understand? You are just a naive child diseased by optimism and I hate you. Why are you even here? Why do you even care? Your parents did not even care about you. They sold you for drinking money. Threw you away like trash." Kylo Ren lashed out at Rey, unable to stop spiteful words escape his mouth, but he did not back down from them. He let his face reflect his words, his eyebrows pushed together creating the skin between them to bunch together and the corners of his lips tip downward. He was not truly angry at her, but at himself. He hurt himself with all the bloodshed and the patricide he committed. But Ben Solo was unable to carry all the weight of them on his shoulders, remembering each of their faces when his lightsaber bore into them. Kylo Ren, however, loved it, as each death of an innocent being fed his hunger for the Dark side. Using it as a drug.
"I don't believe you, Ben. I don't believe you hate me. I believe that you know that there is still Light in you. I see that fight between Dark versus Light. I know that even you, deserve help. You need someone to reach out and take your hand. You need help- I can help you. Just let me in, Ben. I want to help you." Her eyes latched on to his seemingly black ones. Her soft, unwavering gaze ringing true with genuine intentions. The Dark pulled his sight away from her, causing his rage to continue to flow steady, feeding Kylo Ren. He could not face her, this girl, any longer. How was it that she had such a pull on him, despite the bond that tied them together? He did not understand why it was her he had been tied to. He wanted someone to fight alongside and rule the galaxy. But instead, he was faced with a young Jedi who stood for everything he was not and could not be. The vision of her ruling was fueled by the raw power within her. He sensed that she was strong with the force, maybe even more so than him. The Dark called to her, wanted her and he could feel that call within her. Every truly powerful Jedi in history was faced with a defining choice to either give in to its call or resist its temptation. Yet, Rey is strong-willed and cannot bear to let herself give in to it, even though it was still so easy to let that will fade around Kylo Ren.
"That is not my name, Rey. Don't call me by his name." Kylo expressed almost angrily. He was unable to face her any longer, knowing that if he stayed here then she would somehow use his weakness to draw in from his comfortable residence in the dark. Kylo Ren was scared at the thought, but Ben fought for the image of his return to the Light. Anger flared in his eyes as he snapped his glare back at her. Rey's legs were folded underneath her, her left arm supporting her weight on the ship's cold floor. Her brown hair sat, framing her features while her eyes watched him. She was reaching out for him and he wanted to meet her halfway, but Kylo Ren slapped her hand away in a rage. Hurt, Rey drew her hand back in haste, feeling the sharp sting of his force. She almost cried out at the impact of his hand hitting her, but she ignored the urge. The echo of her pain rippled back through the bond, finding its way to his own hand. The bond's strong pull began to give, the image of Rey's hurt face began to fade before him.
Kylo Ren phased back into his bedchamber on the First Order command ship. Helpless and raging to his core. How could he let himself be so vulnerable to his enemy? How could he be so stupid to think that Rey would see him like that, see his innermost fragile thoughts and not think of him as a pathetic boy? A boy who uses his emotions to act on, letting himself give into every insidious intention. You pathetic, selfish, murderous man. No, you are not even a man. You are a scared little child in the shadow of Darth Vader and crushed under the boot of Snoke. You are no one and no one will remember your sad efforts to become someone, Kylo screams inside of his head.
But not to me, a soft voice sounded in his seething thoughts, it was her, Rey. The tug of the bond pulling tightly for only a second and broke. Kylo Ren threw up barriers around himself with the Force. Closing himself off from her. He will not succumb to the Light. He will not let her win him, his soul like that. It is she that needs to realize that she is the one who will turn. Never him. He reassures himself with the comforting suffocation from the Dark. Letting it feed off of his emotions. Letting it drag him, the boy from so long ago that screams out to be let brought out to the surface again, back into the clutches of the familiar darkness.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone