Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

Rigid

Poe sat in the pilot's seat as he lowered them into the atmo of the sandy planet Luke's coordinates sent them to. The cockpit was stiff and quiet, both of which sent him on rigid edge. Serena should have been making some quip about his landing, or Finn would have grumbled about Rey's persistence with flying. Yet, no one said a word.

It gave him nothing to do but look at the planet that supposedly held the small Sith Wayfinder that would lead Serena to Exegol, to the man who nearly killed her- to the man who did kill her.

The sandy planet before them had nothing but various shades of beige. It was nearly impossible to discern the mountains from valleys with similar colors covering everything.

Though the planet looked rather boring upon first look, as they lowered to the top of a peak, bursts of powdered colors exploded in the skies, filling the beige planet with blues, reds, yellows, and purples.

Poe's brows furrowed as he watched the colors explode in the air. They left lasting impressions in the sky as they mingled with the wind and carried up toward the clouds.

"Pretty," Serena mumbled from behind him. But even as she said it he couldn't hear the enthusiasm that usually bestowed her voice. She spoke with passion. He could hear her emotion in every vowel she spewed, but ever since she meditated and crept into the darkness of Exegol, her words sounded hollow.

He tried not to think too much into it as he landed at the peak of a mountain. The exploding powders covered the skies before them, but he couldn't see where they came from with their current position. The planet was supposed to be desolate, practically a wasteland. Luke called it the Forbidden Desert. But it didn't look nearly as forbidden as he led on.

Poe landed, then they all walked off the ramp and toward the peak's edge to see what was making so much noise beyond it.

Poe followed Serena's stiff figure to the ledge. She began to peer over the mountainside, her shoulders taut, hand hovering over her lightsaber in case she needed to extract it.

He couldn't help but think of her when they first met. Back then she was all sharp edges set rigid to harm anything that came too close. Her words had a bite and her touch was deadly. Over their time together her edges softened, her words filled with love, and her touch became tender. The woman he saw before him looked more like Kylo Ren's weapon. He could see her pulling herself into who she used to be. He just didn't understand why.

What was she gearing herself up for? Why is she pulling on her mask?

He stepped beside her to peer at her profile. Her jaw tensed, sending tendrils of muscle flaring as she looked down the cliffside. "Are you sure this is it?" She asked as she eyed the ledge and what laid beyond it. He wanted to look down. He wanted to see where the powder was coming from and what caused the sound of massive explosions, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

"These are the exact coordinates that Master Luke left behind."

C-3PO only seemed to confuse her more as she turned to Poe. He straightened up as he met her amber eyes. He found them filled with resolution. "He mentioned this planet," she told him softly so the others wouldn't overhear. "He said his search led him here but he didn't find it." She swallowed and looked back at the peak as a large blast of blue powder filled with air around them.

Poe finally turned to see nearly a thousand partiers, dressed in lavish robes, waving flags and poles with bright colors adorned on them. There were cannons on the outskirts of the party. Natives filled them with small colored bags, then lit off wicks that sent the bags flying into the sky where they opened. Beautiful shades of purple and green stole the blue from the sky.