Chapter Text
Rey bends to ensure that her weapon is still strapped to her thigh, her other hand fiddling with the strap around her front that tethers the staff to her. Kylo is following silently behind her, having told her that she must use the Force, must use what he had taught her to detect the kyber crystal she had come here for.
They’d hadn’t been able to wait until the heavy flakes of snow had stopped their descent from the sky, Kylo all but holding the girl back in her curiosity to explore before finally relenting when she’d pleaded quite heartfully with puppy dog eyes that he just couldn’t resist. When she stepped down from the platform, her feet were grasped by the waiting snow that has since draped itself like the whitest sheet over the ground. Even with her leather boots, the snow’s coldness wraps chillingly around her as she takes another step forward to close her eyes, relishing in the crisp air that nips teasingly at her neck while she searches for the source of the energy she can feel humming around her. When she hones in on it, she smiles. It almost seemed too easy.
Sensing her mental defenses lowering, Kylo chuckles, shaking his head at the girl with a fond look in his eye when he reminds her,” Remember why you’re here, Rey. In order to craft your lightsaber, you must face your darkest self here. It is not meant to be easy.”
There is a pause, a strange feeling of wariness settling low in her stomach as her brows furrow. He’d briefed her on how to craft a lightsaber, but had left out the part where she would be going through what sounded like a trial.
Rey wondered, “Why didn’t he tell me that before? Perhaps he figured it won’t be a problem for me. Perhaps he figured that I didn’t need to be warned until now because he believes I am meant to overcome whatever lies ahead.
Amidst her thought, her master continued, his tone lighter and more gentle in effort to reassure her,” All is as the Force wills it, Rey. You are strong and I know you can do it. You were lead to the First Order, to the Knights, and to me for a reason. Now, all you have to do is use what you have learned.”
At his last words, a small pang of appreciation settles in her limbs. There was an unspoken order and provocation in them, and she was glad for it. After all, she’d grown quite fond of her master’s praises.
Ahead of her, she is met with a sea of jagged mountains that pierce the dark atmosphere above. Heavy, blackened masses of clouds smother the skies as far as she can see, a fierce snowstorm hanging under them like a haze that not even the seven moons of the system can penetrate with their dim, greyed rays. The wind doesn’t make it easy to see, but at least the hood she’d pulled over her head helps with that. When she casted a furtive glance back to check on her master, the sight of him scouring the area with a hand clasped around the lightsaber that was attached to the hip has her quickly reorienting her attention to follow his in effort to see what it is that he’d been looking for. His shoulders had been tensed, Rey had noticed, as if he were expecting to find something in this weather.
When she scans her surroundings, it is it all she can do not to allow the pang of irritation to strike her through after she turns in a full circle to find that, save the old, wind-torn mountains that are on either side of her, she can see nothing through the course particles of snow that ferociously roll around in waves around her, stinging skin even through the clothes she wore.
It seemed to her that she would have to rely on the Force to tell her where to go, then. It had lead her here for a reason, and she was certain it would lead her to where she was supposed to be.
Closing her eyes, she focuses on the ever-present energy that dwells within and around her, centering all of her attention on the pull that tugs at her in the back of her mind.
A small smirk rising along her lips, she steps forward to trudge through the harsh and unforgiving desert as she allows the almost magnetic pull to lead her through the howling winds.
All is as the Force wills it, she thought.
Kylo follows close like a hawk, watching over her in fascination.
______________________________________________________
Hours had passed and the seven moons of Stygeon Prime had long since flown above the highest peak of the tallest mountain, the snowy winds becoming fiercer as Rey battled the urge to just turn around and head back to the ship. Her resolve, to that end, always seems to crack when Ren passes along a reassuring tug on the invisible thread of their bond to let her know that he’s still there, that they are in this together.
Rey’s feet ached as she continued to trudge through the snow that swallowed her as she moved, but it was all she could do to keep marching forward with her master right behind her. Kylo had been no help at all, simply remaining mute whenever she’d asked for help. It was irritating, if she were being honest with herself. Still, knew why he wouldn’t assist. It would make the satisfaction upon finding it herself all the more worth it. That was why she made no biting remarks at him, despite the emotion that had sunk its teeth into her. Ren had told her that dark emotions like that were good for her, so she simply harnesses the venom into a cage within her, locking it away until later for when she might need it if Kylo’s watchful, attentive eyes that tune themselves to the environment are anything of an indication.
The Force lazily stirred within Rey as she cautiously scanned the area around her, nothing to be seen at all through the thick clouds of snowy winds surrounding her.
The girl’s foot suddenly caught on her other and she lost her footing as she tumbled down, throwing her arms out so that she would fall on her elbows to pad her landing. She expects to collide with the icy floor, is resolved to have the cold enemy unforgivingly nip into her skin in the exposed chest that she’s left on display out of an irrational need to toy with her master. What she doesn’t expect is a strong hand to wrap around her middle, pulling her into a warm, broad chest. For a time, it was all she could do to remain there, her head dipped as she could feel the hot tears of frustration that burned at the edges of her eyes.
Damn it all, she inwardly cursed, clenching a hand into a fist as she briefly wondered if the Force was just cruelly toying with her. She wasn’t having any luck. Maybe Kylo had been wrong to take her here.
The steady thrum of energy had been so strong earlier, slowly fading the longer she spent trying to locate the Sith Temple that Kylo had told her held the kyber crystals stored within the walls in an underground antechamber in waiting for dark siders from wars long past.
She can only think, blowing out a breath of vexation, “Maybe your master was wrong, after all, Rey. He was wrong about you and you know it, deep down. A true Force-User would have been able to construct a lightsaber already. A true heir of Palpatine should never have difficulty locating the temple that calls to their very spirit, either. You disappoint them all, Rey. All of them.”
The dark thoughts dig into her when the girl shakes her head as if doing so will rid her of them. She cannot think like this. She’d come too far. Refusing to give in to the part of her that wanted to turn back and just forget this whole thing, Rey lifts her head to peer from under her hood once more, a familiar series of shapes discernible through the clouds of snow that she hadn’t seen before.
Kylo’s deep voice is like a balm she didn’t know she needed when he gently squeezes to ask,” Do you trust me?”
The girl’s response is immediate, her eyes widening as she looks up at him to say,” Of course I do, master.”
He makes a sound of consideration before offering,” Then trust that I would not have brought you here if I didn’t think you weren’t capable, if you weren’t ready.”
The words echo through her mind, burning away the negative ones she’d iterated to herself moments prior. She is glad that her master had reminded her of that. She’s filled with gratitude to know that there was someone watching over her and is looking out for her. She’s still unused to such things, but she welcomes this.
Perhaps it was just willful thinking to cast away her darker thoughts in favor of stepping away with renewed resolve, but Rey found herself walking forward once more toward the familiar pyramidal structure she’s seen in a vision before. She does dwell on the absence of Kylo’s warmth when she leaves him, missing how impossibly large his hand that had perfectly fit over her abdomen had been and the comfortable heat that had emanated from it. The girl had wanted to stay pressed against him, had wanted that contact that made her blood run faster through her veins, but she had come here for a purpose. When she acquired what she had come here for, then she could allow herself to delve into other, more exciting matters.
Rey has to shield her eyes with her hand, but when she finally distinguishes what’s in the distance, she gasps. Before her stood the grandest temple she had ever seen in all her years, what would have been a single, large mountain tall enough to touch the clouds actually carved and cut to resemble a pyramidal structure that sat atop a large, rectangular base cradling other rock formations to either side of it. There is a thick rectangular section that has been cut away from the front of the pyramid, the snow moving like an icy waterfall over it to catch the moonlight and blink enticingly at Rey.
Around the main edifice are four smaller pyramids, each sitting around the four sides of the main structure, but these have no pointed end to them like the larger one does. Instead, it looked as if the tops of the smaller pyramids had intentionally been cut away, strange markings inscribed into them. Below the rectangular overhang that serves as the base of the pyramids, Rey can discern columns that bend unnaturally throughout the area until her vision lands in the middle, the rock curving around itself to create what she supposed had to be the entrance to the temple.
She’d seen it in a vision not too long ago, but to see it in person really had taken her breath away. Kylo seemed to notice because he simply gazed at her, tenderness swelling within him when her mouth dropped open in awe. He moved to stand behind her, pressing a palm to the small of her back as he encouraged,” It’s beautiful, isn’t it, apprentice? It seems that you have found the Sith temple of Stygeon Prime just as I knew you could,” he continues as he rubs soothing circles into the girl’s back,” Now, go on. I will wait outside for you, okay?”
The girl has to keep herself from releasing a shaky breath at the sensation of his gloved fingers against her back, the warmth of his fingers emanating even through the leather and many layers that separate them. This really isn’t the time to be thinking about that damned dream, but really, where else can her mind go when his hand is that low on her back?
It took a second to register his words, the wind whipping at her face as she looked at him questioningly,” You’re not coming in with me? How will I know how to craft the saber?”
Kylo didn’t give her time to doubt, instead giving a reassuring squeeze when he offered,” When the time is right, I will come find you, but you must find the kyber crystal on your own, Rey. I fear that my presence will only interfere and the choosing of the crystal to its master is,” he pauses to lower himself to her ear, the silver of his visor catching on her ear as he utters,” an intimate affair.”
The way he had spoken the last words has her skin pebbling. It had nothing to do with the cold that is currently licking up her spine.
She didn’t want to leave him, especially not now, but somewhere in the distance, she could feel the pulsing of life from a crystal that she knew was inside the temple before her. It reminds her of why she is here and, begrudgingly, she moved to detach herself from him with a shaky breath,” Understood, master.”
When they reach the set of stairs that will lead her up, she peered up into that dark visor as he flicked his chin toward the temple, a silent conversation happening between them before she nodded in understanding and then made her way up. Kylo’s hand falls from her as she does and she has to force herself not to look back at him because the mere sight of him now cascades the girl in waters of comfort. She doesn’t need to look at him, anyways. She can feel him, can feel his strong signature through the Force and his large presence through their bond.
Rey soon finds herself moving past the large columns that sit at the entrance, effectively blocking some of the silvery moonlight while serving to filter it through the dark space in thin lines to light her way.
Inside, inscriptions adorn almost every pillar throughout the room. Inquisitive, she ran her hand down one of them as she passed, spluttering at the collected silt that has collected on it as she looked closer at it. The ancient symbols and characters were something she’d seen before. Or had she? They looked familiar to her, for she knew them to be part of the Sith language. It seemed to be Qotsisajak, used for the old Sith codes. Wait... how did she know that?
The questions seemed to be flooding her mind even as the cold of the storm enveloped her while she made her way inward, the familiar energy of the Force stirring within and around her to pull at her. The scavenger in her wanted to explore more in this place that looked like it should have existed hundreds of years ago while the winds howled around her, but she allowed the Force to lead her. It hadn’t steered her wrong before, and she hoped it wouldn’t now.
She continued to make her way inside, the ancientness of the structure becoming very apparent when she looked to the archaic symbols that adorn a polished black dais. It sits at the immediate entry to this place that looks like it belonged in a time long ago. Moving a hand to rest upon the dais, she wipes away at the layer of dust that has collected there. Her voice echoed off of the high ceilinged, vaulted room that looks to have been carved from obsidian, the surface devouring what little moonlight that filtered through the triangular opening in the wall that she had come through as she reads:
Nwûl tash.
Dzwol shâsotkun.
Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk.
Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan.
Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha.
Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak.
Wonoksh Qyâsik nun.
Almost as soon as the last word fell from her lips, the girl was seized by an overwhelming rush of energy as it wrapped possessively around her like a rope over her entire body. It is all she can do to fall to her knees as that rope of energy, of dark power that she has just summoned effectively captures her as small tendrils of darkness coalesce into masses that eerily resemble human figures as a total of twenty shadow-like entities apparated before her.
Her eyes widen as the energy riddles through her, rendering her incapable of moving as the black masses begin to circle her, low and indiscernible whispers reaching her ears.
“…You are afraid to lose Kylo Ren...that he will never love you …”
“....afraid that you will never find your place in the galaxy…”
“...afraid of never being good enough…”
“...afraid that you will never be as powerful as Sheev Palpatine…”
The voices are everywhere, the dark masses clouding her vision as she shakes her head, willing it all to go away. The energy that had been summoned binds her to the floor, too powerful for her to fight through but too tempting to let go of as it travels and intertwines itself deliciously around every vein to saturate her in its power.
Memories play through her mind as her consciousness begins to wane, her eyelids soon feeling heavier than lead as she battles herself to remain awake. She sees Kylo Ren when he’d taken her in, the memory shifting to the many training sessions and missions she’d gone on with the Knights of Ren, her friends. She sees the vision of the lightsaber that often was part of her dreams, and then she sees the visions she’d had with her grandfather as she clenches a hand into a fist, her fingernails forming crescent moons on her palms as the pain seared her through in effort to keep herself awake.
Her mind played one last memory as she felt her body begin to surrender to the dark power that surrounded her. She is back in the console room with a viewport before a dark sky that is full of stars. There are two men that stand before the viewport, each clad in black.
One has his arms crossed as if he is thinking of something, deep and heavy breaths sounding from some kind of mechanized breathing apparatus that Rey knows to be a trademark of the legendary Sith, Darth Vader.
Beside him stands the only member of her family she has left, his old and raspy voice echoing throughout the room,” See to it that you get those plans, apprentice… Make certain that your work and sacrifice will not have been in vain…”
A cruel bout of laughter falls from Sheev Palpatine’s aged lips after that as he turns, his topaz eyes fixing on Rey’s as everything near him begins to fade away.
Extending a hand and pointing to her, his tone darkens in amusement when he speaks.
“And you, my young heiress,” He hisses as he hobbles closer to the girl before stopping in front of her to grin so wide that his lips split two different ways,” you have done well to find the last Sith temple in existence. I shall allow you to acquire my power, but you must awaken. Awaken, young heiress, to take what is yours and fulfill your destiny.”
The memory ends and the girl is jolted back to reality as a sharp surge of the Force strikes her through, one of her hands coming to clasp at her chest as she cries out, her eyes screwing shut as if ignoring the dark masses that circle her will make them go away. Rey knew she needed to stop this before it was too late. Before she would lose herself to the darkness that threatened her with fear as it mockingly and uncaringly exposed her.
“Such a pity you are not equal to the Knights of Ren….”
“...a disgrace to the Palpatine name…”
“…will never be good enough to be Kylo Ren’s mate…”
They spoke so loudly now that she could no longer think, each jab piercing her skin and sinking its venomous, poisoned teeth into her. She could not bear it, could not bear to hear that of all things, she would never be as powerful as she wanted to be and that she would never be an equal to Kylo. All she could do was act. She didn’t see nor realize what happened next, but she pulled from the power that was overwhelming her, imagining it being drawn into a ball of energy as she screamed and viciously expelled it outward, thick bolts of purple lightning shooting out from every direction around Rey, effectively striking and destroying the dark masses that had been preying on her.
It is only when she can no longer hear the voices that she ceases to use her own as she sits back on her knees, tentatively opening her eyes to peer at the area around her.
It is devoid of any forms of life, and she is glad for it. Moving to stand, she is not prepared for her leg to give out under her as she falls back down on the floor, just barely managing to put her palms out to keep her face from making contact with it as she releases a shaky breath.
“Kriff... pull yourself together, Rey. You have work to do,” she told herself as she made to stand again, silence so profound chasing her voice that she stood there for moment, willing herself to calm down through the ragged breaths that were only made louder through the endless ceilings above her.
She knew she still had a mission to accomplish, and she would be damned if she didn’t finish what she’d started.
Once her breaths were more even, she took a step forward, reaching out with the Force once more to continue on toward the back of the temple where she could feel the dark energy that now moved through her beckon.
Rey followed the magnetic pull of the energy, moving past dark archway after archway. Cool air billowed out of the carved stone spaces in the walls as she realized each led the way to some kind of room that she couldn’t see into because of the low light that was cast through the space. It was not lost on Rey that each doorway etched into the walls was adorned with Sith symbols and characters that marked them, a strange feeling settling within her the longer she looked at them. The inscriptions and strange symbols were familiar, but at the same time, she knew she’d never seen the written language of Sith before. She knew that she had never visited this temple either, despite the sinking feeling that she’d been here before.
Moving her eyeline away from the many openings among the walls to either side of her, Rey continued forward until she noticed the marble that was black as onyx, the same Sith characters looking like hieroglyphs etched into the stone on the rectangular doorway that was different than those preceding it; the others had been circular, never anything beyond an oval design. The wind growled at her as she trailed her ungloved hand over the archaic symbols, the linear code that was inscribed at the top glinting energetically as the moon’s rays peaked between the many columns behind her to center on the message:
Kun Chirikyât oksh Sarrai
Only He Who Causes Them to Tremble and Throb in Fear May Know the Truth
How she knows what the symbols mean and can translate them, she doesn’t know. As she softly recites them, though, the Force stirs around her and wraps around the girl in invisible tendrils that excitedly lap at her before a strange feeling strikes her chest. There is a sudden change in the atmosphere, almost as if time has stopped. The winds have died and it is as if time has stood still, Rey’s senses now heightened at the thrum of the Force that so strongly coalesces here.
She relishes in the feeling of it, tempting and fulfilling in a way that nothing else could ever be when one was sensitive to such an energy. The dark space before her is so void of light that she likely would have mistaken it for another shadow if not for the magnetic pull of the Force that is all but pushing at her to go through the doorway. She doesn’t resist it, too satisfied with the happy hum of the Force as she follows its will. She can’t see a thing, but her feet move of their own accord down the stone staircase as if someone else is guiding them, the click of her heels in her boots the only sound that echoes off the high walls around her before she stops at the sound of a loud, raspy hiss.
Where there should have been a spike of fear, there was none. Instead, there was only the spark of adrenaline that the girl was beginning to enjoy so much, her blood running faster in anticipation of the threat. She’d sensed some kind of aberration in the Force the moment she had stepped into the room, but that hadn’t stopped her from continuing on. After all, she had a mission to complete. If she had something beyond a lightsaber to show for it in the end, well, that was just bonus points for her to gain from her master later.
She narrows her eyes, trying and failing to see something, anything, before her hand finds the neglected blaster strapped to her hip. The creature attached to the ceiling above her seems to notice, growling in retaliation and Rey almost rolls her eyes at the sound of it. Her fingers wrap around the grip, one of them curling around the trigger as she debates if this is a good idea or not, but Kylo had told her to act on her instincts when they arose within her. With that thought, the girl removes the blaster from its holster, aims it up to her right where the sound had originated from and pulls the trigger.
There’s a high-pitched shriek that has the girl grimacing, but she keeps each hand wrapped around the blaster as the aged wings of the Tibidee slice through the air as it unceremoniously flaps wildly about in pain. Rey curses, knowing that the tough skin of the creature would never be severed or broken by a mere blaster bolt. No, what she needed to deal with it was a lightsaber. Judging by the sounds it kept making, Rey knew that her shot had found its mark, but it had only succeeded in angering the creature rather than inflicting any serious damage. She had seen in the moment that she’d shot the blaster that the ceiling was about twenty meters above her, but hadn’t had time to look down. When the creature flailed and hissed in pain ahead of her, based on where the sound had originated, she quickly aimed the blaster down to her left.
Without a second thought, she fired to listen to the blaster bolt zip through the air for a good sixty meters before crackling to its death against the stone below. With her heart now racing in the most delicious way, Rey waits for the creature to circle back around and face her head-on knowing that her only option right now is to get to the other end of this room without being decapitated by the creature. In the quick flashes of the red light that had been emitted from the blaster, she had seen that from where she currently stands, the staircase she had been walking down has evened out to make a platform and ahead of it, there is nothing but an endless chasm between where she is and the other end of the room where there is a carved doorway, a small incline of rock jutting out from it.
After shooting two rounds to change the creature’s course through the air, the Tibidee slices its wings through the air and based on the sound, is heading straight for Rey. She smirks, amused that the creature has so easily been cornered and when it lowers its talons in anticipation of grabbing her, the girl quickly unstraps the staff from around her back and, augmenting it with the Force, drives the staff up into its belly before it gives a shrill shriek before flinching away only to ram itself into the wall behind her. With a heavy thud, the Tibidee falls to the floor and before it can start its descent down the uneven stone toward her, the girl pulls the Force from around her, concentrating it into her legs before she takes two steps and launches herself into the air.
The air feels like a gentle caress as she careens gracefully through it, her feet landing on the incline with no problem at all as she pulls the hood that had fallen back over her head.
The carved archway, from what she can feel when she runs her fingers across it, is small enough to fit one person, so she’s not going to worry about the Tibidee getting through here. Besides, if it does, she will be able to take care of it once she’s gotten what she came here for. It’s when she’s finished dusting off her dress that she looks up, a pleased gasp falling from her lips when she realizes what she’s looking at. It takes her eyes a minute to adjust in the darkness, but around her is a cavern and, within the walls, are kyber crystals. There are not very many, but they each emit a dull, tired grey light as she passes, each of them ingrained into the rocky, icy walls as she continues deeper into the room. The Force continues to pull at her hands and feet, insistent in its will to keep her moving towards the source of energy that has been calling for her since she got here.
It’s when she passes through a small alcove into an even smaller room the pull becomes stronger and even more attentive as it all but drags her forward. Even if she wanted to stop now, she doesn’t think that could. Rey doesn’t know how it’s possible, but this room’s walls are layered in a sheen of water as if the ice that had once been here has since melted, only an ovular shape carved into the wall containing an icy sheet that is clear as transparisteel as she steps toward it. Inside the ice is the only crystal in the whole room, as if the very chamber had been made just for her as she experimentally presses her ungloved hand against the frozen water.
It is delightfully cold under her fingertips, the crystal within thrumming in appreciation through the Force as it energetically glows with life in the nearness of her. It is an uncolored crystal, just as her master had told her that these would be, this one is not grey as the others were. Instead, it is white as the sands of Scarif. It’s a pretty color, and the girl distantly wonders if there has ever been a white lightsaber as she presses her hand harder against the ice, the Force acting like a second layer of skin as she pushes against it harder until it shatters under her fingertips. With the ice no longer in the way, the crystal emanates an even brighter light as she plucks it from the wall, holding it up with a gratified smile painting her lips.
She doesn’t really know where the best place to build a lightsaber would be, but she thinks that here, surrounded by the Force where she’s just found her kyber crystal, would be as good a place as any. She closes her eyes, reaching out for that invisible cord that ties her to her master before tentatively tugging on it as she waits for him to answer her. His answer is immediate, the heat he always surrounds her with enveloping her to let her know that he’s listening.
“I found it, master. It really is such a beautiful thing… do we have to hide it away in a saber?”
There’s a burst of amusement that is sent to her before he offers,” We don’t have to, apprentice, but it would be of far more use to you as a weapon.”
Rey pouts at that, but she knows that he’s right. She’d come here to make a lightsaber and regardless of how beautiful the stone was now, she knew that it would be even prettier powering the lightsaber of her own that she had longed to have for so long a time. There comes a question in her mind of what exactly will house the crystal, for she hadn’t thought to bring materials for a hilt and didn’t think that this ancient temple would likely have any stored anywhere.
It’s when she absentmindedly fiddles with the strap of her staff, her brows narrowing as she trails her hand upwards to run her fingers over the sturdy metal that had been her only companion for so many years that the question is answered for her. Gratification washes over her like a wave when she realizes why Kylo had given her the staff back, why he had made such a mission for his knights to retrieve it for her. He’d done it all so she could create a new weapon out of one she had carried with her for her entire life. The girl makes a promise to thank him later for this, astounded even still that he had gone to such lengths for her.
“Um, when will you be coming for me, master? You never told me how to properly make one of these, you know…”
There’s no answer from the bond, but his presence has grown stronger and the distance between them has all but been closed. She can feel it. Instead, his voice echoes through the chamber and Rey hears the chuckle she so loves to listen to tumble from his freed lips that she knows are not covered by his mask. She turns around to meet her master, looking up into those impossibly dark eyes as he lowers her hood to say,” I’m already here, apprentice.”
The girl has half a mind to lean her head into his fleeting touch. She’s missed him even though their time apart has been short. Perhaps he feels the same way, his fingers settling comfortably around the back of her neck and she preens when he looks in fascination at the crystal that is almost as large as her small palm to confess,” Well done, Rey… I am proud of you, little one.” He finishes, his fingers curling a little tighter around her neck as she gazes up at him, the appreciation swelling in those eyes of hers that have his heart beating just a bit faster in his chest.
“I wanted to say thank you for,” she grabs at the strap of her staff, looking down at it before peering timidly back up at him,” for this. I hadn’t really known what I was going to do about a hilt before, but now I know why you were so adamant in getting and then giving this back to me.”
By way of answering, Ren gave a nod as if it was the obvious thing to do, pleased to see that she looked so happy with that beautiful smile still lighting up her features as he took her outstretched hand that she’d been showing him and then covering it with his own to fold her fingers over it as he told her,” Of course, little one. It’s my job as your master to ensure you acquire everything you need to properly train. Now, would you like to know how to craft your saber?”
The girl all but bounces up and down in her eagerness before giving an airy answer,” Of course, master!”
Ren has to bite at his lip at how adorable the spectacle is, the dark ensemble a complete contrast to the sweet girl he had the pleasure of watching over. His hand squeezes her neck in fondness as he tells her,” You must bleed the crystal, Rey. To do that, you must pour, must burn your emotions and very essence into it until no part of the crystal is left without traces of you.”
The girl tilts her head in confusion, her brows drawing together at his words. She hadn’t really known what to expect in the form of directions for how to create the weapon she so desired, but it certainly hadn’t been what her master had just told her. Still, she supposes that lightsabers wouldn’t be so rare in how few wielded them if they were so easy to craft.
That’s not to say she won’t try to get anything else out of the man before her, though. She’s beginning to learn that she can persuade him if she’s good enough, the surge of satisfaction always worth it when Kylo Ren, the master of the Knights of Ren and heir to the First Order, yields to a sand dweller like her. Widening her eyes a little, she asks in a light tone,” Aww, can’t you tell me anything else, master? That’s hardly anything to go off of.” She playfully whines.
The man before her smirks, his lower lip looking so full and soft that the girl has a sudden urge to touch, to see what that feels like under her again. They had been so succulently sweet when she’d first kissed him and she’d be lying to herself if she hadn’t thought about that every night since, wondering how those lips would feel on other parts of her. She makes to move her hand toward those enticing lips, but inwardly curses when she realizes that her only free hand is gloved. The apparatus isn’t what she wants right now because she won’t be able to get that tingly sensation under her skin if the damn glove is covering it. She notices the way that his eyes trail slowly to her lips as she licks at them in his own measured yearning that pools in his own orbs as he just stares, making no move to stop her.
Maybe it's the power of the kyber crystals around her, the darkness of the Force that drips from the walls around her that do away with any timidity or shyness she might have had. Maybe it’s the way his eyes have darkened in the step that she’s just taken to stand so close that she can feel his warm breaths fan across her blood-filled cheeks that have her looking up innocently at him from under dark lashes as she offers him her unused hand to purr,” Master, the gloves… please take them off.”
And between the man’s legs, something twitches to life as he cages the shaky exhale that wants to escape in his throat at her request. He knows what she wants, can see it in the way her eyes saturate themselves in desire and in how she’s all but pressing herself against him to give him the galaxy’s most tantalizing view of those perfect breasts that he has to clench his fists to keep from touching. Her voice just does things to him, and really, who is he to deny her when he was meant to give her everything she wanted like the dutiful master that he was? That’s not to say he won’t toy with her first, though. She’s quite the catch, indeed.
With a flick of a dark brow, he lifts the hand of his own that currently is not attached to the girl before removing the one clasped around her wrist, not missing the frown he acquires from her in his momentary absence from her. His Reya was clearly turning into minx, trying to use the desire she knew he had for her against him to get him to tell her more. He knows this, which is why there is amusement that, next to the lust that coils lowly in his gut, burgeons within him.
He watches with interest the way her eyes darken when he pinches the leather between his middle and thumb, rolling the material between the digits before slowly, seductively pulling it back to reveal the alabaster skin of his wrist. The girl’s breath catches at first sliver of skin to be uncovered, wanting to trail her fingers up and over it as she watches, entranced, as he continues to slide the black covering up his hand. When those large knuckles make way for long, thick fingers, the girl has to bite at her lip to keep from sighing at the memory of how those wonderful digits had felt inside her in the dream that had changed everything for them. Kylo seems to remember it, too, his eyes darkening as he gazes down at her with want coloring his irises.
“Is this what you wanted, little one? Is this good enough?” He asks, doing the same to his other hand with a smile dangling on his lips.
Rey’s eyes are hooded when she breathes,” Yes, master. Please, take...take mine off.” The girl is almost burning with need now, the urge to touch so overpowering that she thinks she might just rip the damn things off if Kylo doesn’t do something soon.
With a dark chuckle, the man rasps,” Your wish is my command, my apprentice.”
When Kylo lifts the hand she has pressed to his chest, he brings it to his waiting lips to press lightly against each knuckle, each time eliciting a small tremble to the girl’s body as she watches, totally enraptured in the fullness of those sinful lips and how warm they are even with a layer of leather between them.
When he finishes, he brings his mouth to her index finger, trapping the material along the top between his teeth to pull traitorously at it. When he watches the way her mouth parts, her hot, soft tongue pressing at the roof of her mouth as she looks at him with lust now pooling everywhere in those dark eyes, he’s filled with an irrational need to press his lips against hers. Hard. Hard enough to entangle his own tongue with hers so that he can savor the sweet cavern and see if it tastes as good now as it did a few nights ago. He’s slow to remove the glove from her hand, his fingers wrapping possessively around hers when he’s finally removed it and pulls away, the offending article still captured between his lips.
Rey finally does release a shaky breath, her now ungloved hand reaching for the glove as Kylo steps closer, unable to resist her intoxicating heat. When she finally tugs it away and throws it behind them, she presses her still gloved hand to his chest, running her fingers downward until trailing them back up again while Kylo’s own blood rushes within him just a little faster. Her gaze is piercing as she slowly leans in, her mouth still parted as her gaze dangerously flicks between his lips that he’s just wetted back to his hooded gaze. He’d been meaning to toy with her before, but he’s so utterly gone for her right now that he knows if she were to command him to kill everything that existed in the world, he would do it for her.
His hands, unable to indent moons into his hands out of restraint any longer, find the girls hips and rest atop them, pulling her impossibly closer as she whines when their chests finally touch. Her breasts push enticingly against him and he wants so badly to touch, but right now there are more important things to attend to because she’s leaning closer until she stops, tilting her head enticingly up at him to whisper,” Master… please, kiss me.”
And really, Kylo is helpless to that command at how sultrily saccharine her voice has become as his grip tightens and he lowers his head to meet her waiting lips. She’s painted them a lovely cherry red and right now, he just wants to lick it all off until her lips are left red not by any paint she’s applied, but instead because of his rough possessiveness in his want to leave his own mark on her. The girl silently intertwines their fingers together, the gratifying pulse between their joined skin appreciated greatly by the Force that hums in their coming together. She’s left her lips parted for him, mercifully, and when he licks salaciously at her plush bottom lip, trapping it between his teeth as he presses her closer against to him, she whimpers and the sound might just be the loveliest thing he’s ever heard.
He smirks against her, satisfaction dripping over his insides and he finally bites, the girl moans, her lips parting a little more in surprise and he takes the opportunity she’s granted him to roughly slide his tongue into that cavern he’s been wanting so badly to taste. It’s just as delicious this time, the taste of her almost intoxicatingly fruity as she submits against him, her tongue lazily falling back as he wraps his own along it in his need to possess, to claim.
They stand there with their lips pressed together for how long, they don’t know, but when they finally separate, the girl is panting and Kylo has to suppress the need to dive back in again, wanting so badly to devour those sounds and show her just how easy it would be to take that breath away in other ways that involved far less clothing and far more touching. He ends up not being able to resist the earlier temptation, this time pressing a soft, chaste kiss so different from the other that the girl is left with a mewl that falls shamelessly from her throat in the absence of his lips.
He smirks, brushing a strand of rebellious hair behind her ear in how beautiful she looks, her eyes shining in want as she continues to stare expectantly at him before he deeply intones,” Stars, Rey… you are exquisite.”
The girl preens at his praise and unwraps her fingers from around his to lay her palm over the smooth skin of his face as sparks erupt under the joined skin for them both as she confesses,” I-I can’t seem to get enough of you, either, master…”
The admission has a warm feeling spreading its wings within him as he leans into her touch, craving it like a starved man as he squeezes her sides to say,” I’m glad you think so, apprentice, now,” he peers between them at the crystal Rey had kept clutched to her chest,” do you think you can craft your weapon so that I can take you back to the ship so that we can do a little more of what we just did? I can do so much more to you than just kiss you, my apprentice.” He darkly confesses, his eyes narrowing as she blinks up at him from under a fan of dark lashes, a breath catching in her throat at the insinuation of promised pleasure.
And Rey, well, she wants that. Taking a look at the way Kylo’s looking at her like she’s some sort of goddess, she can tell that he wants it just as much.
The girl makes a sound of consideration before asking innocently,” I would, but you haven’t really given me much to go off of on how to make one,” she pouts, jutting a lip out that is devoid of any lip coloring she’d been wearing earlier. A swell of satisfaction pools within him at the sight.
At her question, though, Kylo’s eyes soften, the hands of his that rest on each of her hips trailing up and back to reassure her as he offers,” My master did not tell me anything more than I just told you, little one, so I shall endeavor to do the same for you. However,” he grips her chin with his other hand when it had begun to fall,” I can say that it would be helpful to sit and dwell on your emotions… try to tether them to the Force. Do you think you can do that for me, little one?” He asks before squeezing her wrist in questioning.
With a nod, Rey’s eyes light up in her understanding as she blinks up at him to profess,” Of course, master.”
____________________________________________
Hours later find Rey sitting in the same chamber, her legs folded under her so she sits on her knees. Her staff lays in multiple pieces in front of her, the metal cold in her hands, but she didn’t care. She’d found everything she would need to construct her first lightsaber. Kylo sits in front of her, his own saber sitting abandoned by his side as he contentedly watches Rey, the sight of her commanding all his attention.
The girl didn’t know how long she sat there, the disassembled pieces of the hilt she’d chosen floating in front of her around the kyber crystal that continued to grow warmer as she focused on it.
Her eyes had been closed for what felt like an eternity, everything being plunged into darkness as she sat on her knees to lay an open palm over each thigh. Rey allowed the anger that she’d kept in a mental dam to open and flood her while her mind relived the memories that irked her the most, a carnal bloodlust filling the air as she took a shaky breath.
Bloodcurdling screaming rang through her ears as she remembered the scene she’d walked back to after leaving her parents for the day to secretly train on her home system of Geonosis. She could still smell the burnt flesh and iron of the blood that had been spattered in every direction as a coil of her fury swirled within her. Not letting herself end the nightmare that was the memory of the death of her family, she viciously threw the anger outward toward the crystal that slowly spun above her, a slight pink tinge beginning to form along its edges.
The girl forces herself to continue reliving the memory, all thoughts she’d had from that day returning to her that she’d kept locked away until now.
She remembered the cold, lifeless body that did not stir as she cradled what remained of her mother and father in her arms, hot tears streaming down her face as she naively tried to tell them all to wake up.
“You did this, Reya… you let them die.”
“They were killed because of me...”
“Whoever did this… I will kill them and make them suffer like no man has suffered before…”
At her last thought, the crystal begins to spin faster, a small sigh falling from her lips as a lone tear trailed down her face at the familiar fury that sidled through her core. She focused on the crystal that was now gradually gaining speed in its spin, tiny veins of a now red color reminiscent of blood slowly spreading across it.
The memory continues until she gets to the part that had always eluded her when she tried to recall it. The last thing she remembered was holding her hands out, wanting to destroy something. Anything. The ground before her had begun to shake, cracks appearing in the rocky hillsides to either side of her that she did not notice while her piercing screams rang through the air.
The last thing she remembers is darkness after that, waking in some kind of underground trading market with her wrists and feet bound by old, aged chains to Unkar who had her leashed to him like a dog as he’d tried to pawn her off at the ripe age of six years old to the highest bidder dressed only in rags that left little to the imagination. Her anger was still fresh, but she couldn’t find the will to try to escape over the years as Unkar Plutt, the male trader that had found her, made her a slave and made her believe that she really was nothing.
“You wanted to kill them, Rey You wanted to kill them all…”
“Let yourself go…”
“Let your emotions flow through you…”
The old thoughts burn in her mind as one hand clenched into a fist, the girl channeling the emotions that had long since been embers into a fierce fire that flared from her core as they emanated outwards toward the stone that was nearly blood red as she continued to let the pain of her memories overwhelm her.
Rey still had long, pink lines that ran over her back from her owner, the physical reminders of who she’d once belonged to something she would never be able to escape.
There hadn’t been a day that went by when she was a slave that she hadn’t thought about killing the bastard, about how satisfying it would have been to drive a knife through his cold, wicked heart. Her owner, just like the one who threatened her master, would meet an unruly end by her hand, and the wicked part of her looked forward to that, her grimace changing to that of an evil smirk as her hands relaxed and she focused her attention on the crystal.
It was spinning so rapidly now, but she could make out where it ended and began as she centered her emotions on it, the jagged stone alight with dark energy as it blazed with new life, a bright crimson color lighting the area around the girl as the pieces of the hilt edged closer to capture it.
Wanting to drape her emotions even more profoundly across the stone, the girl allowed her memory to shift. She remembers with fury when she found out Luke Skywalker had killed her family, a rush of hot anger steadily rising within her. He would pay for what he’d done, she vowed as the last pieces of the hilt enclosed the stone that grew hotter each second that passed, a strange sensation beating through her as she finished constructing her blade.
She thinks of how she’d woken up in Watto’s shop on Tatooine and how the shackles bit into her when she walked, the metal splitting her skin as blood became caked around her ankles. She thinks of the humiliation when she’d been forced to wear such provocative clothes for so many long, painful days. She remembers with disgust the thin silk band that had been just big enough to cover her breasts and how her stomach had been bare.
For the bottom piece, there had been a thick golden band that circled her waist, connecting to the front and back with long, charcoal colored pieces of silk that dragged along the floor at her height. She’d been forced to sit on her knees as she was doing now, her hands clasped behind her back in shackles that connected on a chain to the wall. She remembers the harsh lashes and bruises she’d gotten to her back whenever she tried running away. Whenever she disobeyed her owner. Whenever she had bled from the shackles and “ruined his floor with her nasty, tainted blood.”
Rey remembers the predatory looks and evil sneers that had been directed at her, a fresh surge of fury radiating through her as she grimaces at the memory
She remembered the satisfaction that had licked along her spine when Watto’s vile blood had stained her skin and how delicious that dark power had felt weaving itself around her fingertips and making her heart race in excitement. She remembered how good-how powerful- she had felt when she’d killed, when she’d murdered.
It was as if a shockwave fell upon the chamber she sat in, a rumbling sound tumbling from the ceiling as small shards of sharp rock crashed down into the area around her.
Her right hand moved instinctively, then, rising from her knee in an open palm as she willed her saber to move toward her. When the warm metal meets her ungloved hand, she releases a gasp, not expecting the dark energy to wrap around her and move along the hilt as she gingerly brings it to her chest.
It was satisfying now to allow the dark power to wash over her like a warm wave, for it is soothing in a way that nothing else could ever be.
When she lowered her head to inspect the newly forged weapon, she felt a bead of sweat trail down her face. It is only then that she realizes the drain she’d put on herself. Her arms were shaking… No, her entire body was shaking. Sweat coated her from head to toe as she took deep, jagged breaths and, not for the first time, she feels the tendrils of unconsciousness wrap around her.
“I’m so tired,” is all she can whisper as she battles the urge to just lie down and rest. It had been so long since she’d had a decent sleep....
So caught up in how drained she was, she almost doesn’t notice Kylo, who is utterly fascinated at having watched the girl craft her first weapon and accept the darkness he knew resided in her dark heart. His mouth has parted in awe and when he speaks, his voice might just be the sweetest nectar ever to drip over her ears.
“My Reya, so perfect for me.”
Her eyelids droop when she tries to focus on him, her mind not really registering what her body is doing when he puts out a hand to cradle one side of her face. The pads of ungloved fingers run soothingly over her cheek and she, too tired to care about the mortification it might cost her later, leans into the touch with a satisfied sigh when she whispers,” I hope I made you proud, master. That’s all ever I want,” she pauses, gazing from his lips that he’s just licked to his eyes that shine with an emotion she knows she’s felt before, has been feeling for a while now,” you’re all I ever…”
She doesn't get to finish, her eyes closing as sleep’s minion claims her. When her body falls forward, left exhausted and depleted of energy, warm arms and a broad, toned chest are there to catch her.
“I know, my love. I know,” Kylo coos as he carefully cradles the sleeping beauty close within his arms.