The Spark Of Hope And Fire

Regrouping

      Rey knew a lot more about weapons and and parts salvage than she did about battle strategies. Leia has put her to the task of salvaging and refurbishing any useable equipment on the new base. She was very happy to do the work for someone who actually appreciated it. But she also liked to wake up early and finish the day's work as early as possible, so she could practice with her quarter staff. The exertion keeps her body ready. But more so, it keeps her mind occupied in the present. And it has been increasingly difficult to do so lately, given the many hours spent in the falcon, as well as Rey herself  having to physically shake off lingering thoughts of the recent events.
     In the evening, she has been reading the jedi texts. It has seemed a good choice to do so at that time, as they frequently put her to sleep.
      Luke seemed to resent the code the jedi lived by. He called it hubris. Vanity. Rey was beginning to understand his point of view. Infants being taken from their parents for training? Not being allowed to love? Not being allowed a family. Never seeing their families again? Finn told her that's what the First Order did for storm trooper training.  It does seem callous, even detrimental for someone to notbe given a choice to what they would likethi do with their life. And possibly self righteous. Rey could not fathom how that could have been the jedi way for so long. The two sounded too similar to Rey. They sounded too much like enslavement.

      Yesterday,  she came to an instruction piece on how a padawan was to build their own lightsaber. This section was the first one to keep her rapt attention. There were diagrams and cross sections; different ways they could be constructed. Thre were paragraphs on jedi history and tradition, and coordinates to the temple cave where this was to take place.
      Rey still had the remains of Luke's lighsaber, sitting useless in her quarters. Until this moment, she had no idea where to even begin putting it back together. She knew she wanted to fix it. It was Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. Given to him by his father, Anakin Skywalker. Luke may be gone, but his legend remained. And she couldn't allow that legend to include a broken lightsaber. She had to fix it. For Luke. She knew it was what he would have wanted. She decided she had to go to Ilum. She had to repair the lightsaber.

      Rey spoke with Leia about it, and how important the lightsaber was to her, and the Skywalker family. The General reluctantly allowed the trip.
      Rey summoned Chewy to ready the falcon for takeoff. He mawed affirmatively, and prepared to set a course for the ice planet,  Ilum.

        The initial adrenaline rush of rulership was quickly fading out. Kylo Ren stood, overlooking the manufacturing plant, rather annoyed. General Hux was swinging from 'lost puppy' to 'mutinous rancor' since Snoke's death. He had to find a way to get rid of him for a while. The new Supreme Leader just sent the General on an errand that should take at least 10 hours to complete, and Kylo finally had a moment to himself.
      He had been trying to determine the next move against the Resistance, trying to ascertain where they would be meeting next. And trying to figure out how and why the force bonds with Rey were still happening. He discerned that, since Rey took the Luke's lightsaber, she'll most likely be seeking a way to repair it. Or make a new one. The force will lead her to Ilum.

     Kylo couldn't decide whether he needed to go to stop her from making a new lightsaber, or to kill her as he told Luke he would, or if he was just deceiving himself, and going merely in order to see her. Regardless, he decided to make the trip. He readied a few things, made orders and arrangements to the fleet, and boarded his ship.

     An Ice planet. Leia told Rey it was colder than she could imagine. She told her of Hoth, and how Luke and Han almost died from the cold there. They made final approach on Ilum. The planet seemed a hazy blue. It couldn't be that bad. The sky was that color on Ahch to. She put the heavy insulated white suit on passively. It was old, but sturdy, insulated, and fit well enough.
    Once they landed, Rey gathered her gear and opened the cargo door. It was dark. But the ice picked up refracted light from the 17 day twilight this hemisphere is in. The air hit her face with instant frost. She stumbled back from the doorway, a little surprised. The forest on starkiller base was cold, but not this cold. Rey put on her goggles, and the respirator Leia had given her, and stepped down the ramp.
     The mountains were farther away than she initially thought. After about 3 hours, Rey sat down, and quickly ate her packed lunch. She wanted to get to the cave as quickly as she could. Though it was already dark, there was an even darker grey looming on the horizon. A storm. There were frequent ice storms here, and the caves would be the only safe place to wait out the storm.
      Chewbacca had flown back to the base at Rey's insistence. He left, despite his pleadings and protest. She wanted to do this on her own. Although not knowing how long it would take,  Rey promised Chewy she would contact him as soon as she was done here.

         He heaved a deep sigh. The planet is only a day and a half away from the first order's current coordinates. Though he was always surrounded by people, especially now as Supreme Leader, Kylo felt increasingly alone. And the silence of flying alone was even more daunting. It left him with too much idle time, which lead his mind to overtime. And this girl vexed him by taking a majority of his conscious thought already. Yet, he found himself going to her anyway. Thinking of her, anyway. He sat in the pilot seat, hands smoothing back his hair, wondering what he was doing to himself, yet arriving at the planet, nonetheless.
     It had been over ten years since he set foot on this place. The last time, he was only a padawan. Being here kicked up the dust from faded and unwanted memories of studying with Luke to become a jedi. But Kylo Ren was no jedi. And Luke was dead. Still, he had to grudgingly admit that some of the training he recieved from Luke was useful. It did take a lot of patience, meditation, and focus to build or repair a lightsaber. He appreciated at least that much.
       He could tell that Rey was already here. But the cave was a vergence in the force, making the use of it difficult. There was no sensing anything in the cave from the outside, nor from the inside out. However, there were recent footprints leading to the massive temple doors. And evidence of a quick meal under an outcropping of rock just before the entrance. He hesitated. Why was he afraid?
    A storm was rumbling toward the caves just a short distance away. The already fiercely cold wind was becoming colder and stronger. According to the jedi, the ice storms here are quite dangerous. The padawans were to delay the making of their lightsabers until they passed, even if it were the 17th revolution. Kylo would have to spend the next few days in the cave. He gathered his gear, and a bit of courage, and stepped onto the ledge.
     
      The ice falls had been broken through, revealing the caverns. The rumbling storm is just outside the doors now. He can hear the angry, cold wind lashing and throwing daggers of ice, shattering on the stone walkway. Thunder claps were causing the cave itself to tremble in fear. But that wasn't what Kylo Ren was afraid of.