Will of the Many~ Poe Dameron

Til our blood runs cold

My bones are stained with sin, scorched from fires, broken by betrayals, cold in loneliness, soaked with blood, and still we keep on fighting...

-Unknown

Serena's chest heaved with pained breaths as she stood amongst the mound of bloodied bodies. Her own blood flowed hotly through her veins, pulsing life through her as she surveyed all the lives she just took. 

Her arms shook with exhaustion and sweat clung to the skin around her chest and neck and weighed her hair down until it glued to her skin. Her hair twisted around the front of her neck tightly like a leash woven from her own guilt. 

She let out a rushed breath that caused her chest to cave in and shoulders to droop. Her head dropped back to look at the bright, open sky. The fog cleared as the sun clung high in the sky and dried the moisture from around them. 

For once, she hoped for the fog to cloud the world around her. She could feel the gaze of her cadets on her bloodied face, and she didn't want to see the disgust and horror in their eyes. 

"Go..." She panted as she closed her eyes. She gulped to try and gain some control over the waver to her voice. "Go tell the prisoners they are free."

"But... Commander, shouldn't it be you who tells them of their freedom? You are the one who gave it to them."

Serena peeled her eyes open and begrudgingly lowered her head to look at her innocent, naïve cadets. The sun shined over them, encapsulating them in a soft glow that contradicted the slaughter they had just witnessed. While she was dripping with blood and sweat, they were untouched and pristine. Her heart swelled at the hardship she spared them by taking the men on her own, but by doing so she painted herself exactly as they all saw her. She was literally standing on a pile of dead bodies- bodies of the very same people she use to lead and fight alongside. 

She took in a long breath to try and soothe the heartache, but it quenched her about as much as spit to a flame. 

"They don't want to see me," her eyes swept over them as she said it. Her shoulders lifted at the obvious answer. "I represent the very same people who oppressed them. If they see me, they'll think they're still enslaved. No." She shook her head as she looked down at her gloves. They glistened under the sun, but thankfully the blood didn't show up on the black leather. She could feign ignorance and believe it was just dew wetting them. "You all go. Tell them The Resistance has come to set them free. Tell them to go on without fear of enslavement. They deserve the reassurance." She gulped as the tremor came back. She cleared her throat and wiped her hands on her pants to remove the wet. 

As her head stayed bowed she felt the cadets move away from her. Every last one of them left to free the long awaiting slaves within the caves. 

It took a few minutes before their presence faded around her. She wanted peace, however, there was one presence that hadn't faded along with the rest. 

She lifted her head to see Finn's hard glare boring holes in her. She tightened her jaw as she rose her chin to meet his steady gaze. 

"What?" She snarled at his anger. 

"You barely tried to convince them!" Finn's shout filled the void around them. He stomped towards her with a lively fury radiating in his every step. She was thankful the others had gone so they wouldn't bare witness to his subordination. "Why is slaughter your answer for everything?!"

"Shut up," she whispered lowly. Her fingers curled into tight fists and hung dangerously by her sides. "Shut up!" She roared as she matched his angered steps with her own. She didn't stop until they stood toe-to-toe, each raving with heavy pants that pushed their chests out. "Kaydel almost died because of your ignorance. Every single one of those cadets-" she threw her finger towards the cave the cadets walked into. "-almost died because you wanted to talk your way out of a war. How stupid are you, Finn? Hm?" She raised a brow at her rhetorical question. "Or were you just trying to set me up for failure? Did you think if we came back from a mission with half our stock that the Resistance would finally see me the way you do?" Her amber eyes moved feverishly between his dark orbs. She took in the heat behind his gaze and let it add timber to her own fire until it filled her chest with an uncontrollable rage. "I tried to listen to you because I pathetically wanted you to see me as I am now, but no matter what I do you will always look at me and see Kylo Ren's Right Hand. That is all I'll ever be to you."