Kylo's feet pounded the floor angrily as he hastened back through the corridors of StarKiller Base back to the interrogation room. Snoke was wrong; he was nothing like his father. Always Snoke underestimated him, his resolve, his ability. He had proved himself in the cave on Dagobah, but Snoke still accused him of weakness, feeling, and compassion. On arrival at the room in which he'd left Rey, Kylo could see that the stormtrooper standing guard at the door was missing, and Kylo knew before the entrance to the cell opened that she would not be inside. Within the dark panelled room, the restraint table beneath the dim glow of the red light was empty; the restraints lay open- Rey was gone. Kylo took his lightsaber from his belt, ignited it and unleashed his barely caged fury on the contents of the room. Nothing escaped his wrath; the monitors, table, and walls were all slashed and ripped; burning slashes marked his destructive rampage. When Kylo's furious madness was spent, he stood panting within his helmet amongst the room's glowing embers and melted metal. His master would be gravely disappointed in him again; he must find her and quickly.
Rey had struggled in the interrogation room alone, confused and afraid, questions flooding her mind as she fought with the bindings that held her tightly. Her friend was the masked creature from her nightmares, the dark, terrifying monster. He'd kidnapped her and brought her to this place, whatever this place was. She had no idea who the boy she'd known had become, this terrifying man with sad eyes, but she didn't want to wait around to find out. She didn't want anything to do with him, with any of this. She needed to escape, to get away from him and back home to Jakku. At the door to her cell stood a lone stormtrooper with a blaster.
She closed her eyes, calmed herself, and stilled her breathing just like Ben had shown her all those years ago when everything had changed. That day, when he'd handed her food, she'd never been the same again; she could sense things, feel things; she needed to embrace that sensation. Breathe in, she told herself, breathe out. She reached out with her feelings, felt the room about her, the life beyond the cell walls, the countless corridors and rooms and the hundreds and thousands of life forms congregated within them. She felt beyond the base to the powerful energy beneath the planet's surface. Her senses heightened; she focused on the guard at the door, his anxiety at the dark figure who'd given him his orders, and the blaster in his hands. She focused and could hear them breathing within his helmet; she opened her eyes.
"You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open."
The trooper strolled inside and angrily placed his blaster to her face.
"What did you say?"
Breathe, Rey, just breathe. Rey took another deep breath and tried again. When her voice left her lips, it sounded deep and calm, unlike her usual voice.
"You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open."
The trooper's body changed, shoulders relaxing, and he lowered his blaster as she'd asked.
"I will remove those restraints and leave this cell with the door open."
The stormtrooper undid the restraints about her feet and hands, and Rey rubbed her wrists as she watched, somewhat surprised but impressed with herself, as the stormtrooper turned to exit the room.
"And you'll drop your weapon," she suddenly cried at his retreating back as she considered a weapon on her escape would be most helpful.
The blaster clattered to the ground, "And I'll drop my weapon," the trooper replied robotically.
Rey scooped up the blaster by the door and watched as her guard turned down the corridor and strolled away. She looked down the corridors and, choosing a direction without much idea where it led, fled the room. The corridors seemed endless; this place was vast, yet something about the structure of the corridors and the layout seemed familiar to Rey, similar to that of an Imperial Star Cruiser, just far less rusty and full of sand than she was generally used to. Occasional pairs of troopers walked the corridors, and Rey would have to duck into a darkened corner or behind a door. Her progress was slow, and she could feel the anxiety of attempting to flee taking too much time rising in her throat. After much stealthy navigation of a multitude of corridors and through countless doors, she found a hangar. The ships were all locked to the walls, and a large viewing window overlooked the hangar itself, full of pilots, maintenance crew and techs and the entire hangar. She wouldn't be able to steal a ship, not from here, not like this; she needed another plan. Outside the hangar, it was dark, but white whisps fell from the sky in a torrent. What was that?
She returned to the corridor with a hangar nearby. There must be an external door at the end; she rushed along the corridor, momentarily forgetting to be quiet, but as predicted, an external door to the outside was ahead. Rey headed towards it, but it wouldn't open. She could really use a droid right now; she'd have to do it the long way. Opening a panel in the wall next to the door, she viewed the wires, looking for the ones that controlled the door. It wasn't long till she found what she was looking for and pulled out the switch that would release the door. A second set of blast doors swung shut over the first. She sighed; wrong switches. She replaced the controller, and the doors swung back into place hidden within the walls. She closed her eyes for a moment and told herself to stop panicking and focus on the task. She found another switch for the door, and this time, the door opened with a rush of freezing air. She smiled and, without hesitating, fled out into the darkness. The flurries that filled the night sky were cold, and the ground beneath her boots seemed hard but slippery. She could feel an icy coldness seeping through her boots. Ahead, through the white-flecked darkness, she could see trees and spying no one about; she headed in that direction to hide.
Kylo marched along the corridors with several stormtroopers, "She's going to try and escape or steal a ship, search the hangars."
The troopers marched off, and Kylo paused; he'd find her quicker using the Force. He reached out, searching as he headed in the direction of a nearby hangar. He could feel her close, closer, but not here. He reached further, sensing something and turned his head to look out the hangar's doors. As usual, the view out the hangar was white-speckled darkness, the darker outline of trees barely visible just beyond the doors- there, she'd gotten outside, impressive. Kylo took the most direct path, straight through the hangar. Pilots, mechanics and technicians stepped briskly but respectfully out of his way, muttering 'Sir' at him as he headed for the edge of the hangar. He stood just outside the hangar, the wind blowing mercilessly at him as he surveyed the landscape, searching for her. The surface of Starkiller Base was spectacular and mean in its temperature variance ranging from cold to artic. It no longer resembled the planet it had been. Its valleys and glaciers were hacked to make way for hangers and tunnels. Kylo walked across the mountainous, snowy landscape towards the small forest that still clung to life. His robes whipped about him, and despite being both helmeted and hooded, flakes of snow fell within his clothing, melting on his skin. The icy conditions did not bother him. Snoke's teaching over the years had trained his body to endure. Blistering heat, freezing ice lands, sand, snow, humid jungles and damp swamps; within the Force, such atmospheric and landscape changes bore no impact upon him. He found himself considering how Rey in her desert wraps could cope; she was out here, and he'd need to find her before she froze to death, attempting to elude him. He removed his lightsaber from his belt, ignited it and stalked forward, sensing his prey was close. It was even darker among the woodland, the light from the hangar not stretching beyond the treeline. The immediate forest and snow on the ground reflected red in the light of his blade. The dim red glow that lit his way wasn't powerful enough to see clearly, and the beam's light spat as flakes of snow sizzled on, hitting the fiery bolt, despite that he could just make out shallow footprints.
"Rey!" he shouted into the blustery cold. "You cannot hide, not from me."
Kylo stepped around a tree and saw Rey as she jumped out from behind a rock blaster in hand.
"Don't come any closer, I'll shoot," she warned as she stepped unsteadily backwards.
Kylo took several long strides in her direction, unperturbed by the blaster in her hand. She let off a few laser blasts with surprising accuracy, but Kylo had anticipated her and deflected them with ease, his lightsaber catching each shot with a graceful swing. Through his helmet, he surveyed her, considering if she would fire again. She was shivering, her body shaking uncontrollably, and he sensed it wasn't merely from the cold. She was terrified—terrified of him, of this situation, and of what would happen if he should succeed.
"Stop!" she shouted, this time standing her ground.
Unexpectedly, Kylo found he couldn't move. He was frozen to the spot. No one had ever controlled him with the Force; not even Snoke could control him, not like this. He could use the Force against him, throw him, hurt him, but never control him; how very interesting. She blasted in his direction again; this time, there was nothing he could do as it struck him in the shoulder, and the blast knocked him from his feet. Kylo lay for a moment, acknowledging the searing pain in his shoulder, impressed and surprised until he realised he'd regained governance of his limbs. Whatever she'd done to freeze him, she didn't master it; it had been merely a chance ability, not one done with purpose. He reached up and unlatched his helmet and removed it once more, taking in great gulps of freezing air before struggling to his feet.
"I'm not going back; I'm not going to your master," she cried into the snowstorm as he got back to his feet, the blaster in her hands still aimed at him.
He looked over at her; her hair was wet with fallen snow, and her pitiful robes seemed even more useless against the conditions of this base, now see-through and stuck soddenly to her limbs.
"We'll see," he said as he stalked purposefully towards her once more, spinning his lightsaber backwards as he ignited it. She staggered backwards, falling into the snowdrifts letting another bolt fly, which he managed to freeze in mid-air before it could hit him.
He stood above her in the red glow of his weapon. He could make out cold tears blending into the melting snow upon her face. He harnessed the Force and pulled the blaster from her hands, throwing it far from her reach. She was now defenceless against him.
"I take no pleasure in this. It would be easier if you just surrendered yourself to me," he said, extinguishing his saber and placing it back on his belt.
"You're a monster!" she yelled at him.
The remark hurt; chides from Hux, Snoke, and Ren had all fuelled his hate and power, but this from her cut him to the core. He angrily harnessed the Force and lifted her up off the ground, her feet fighting for purchase in the air, their faces inches from each other. He could see deep into her brown eyes.
"Yes, I am," he whispered, acknowledging her accusation.
He meant what he said, for he had indeed become a monster. Before him, her face instantly changed. Was that pity he saw? That was worse, worse than the truth he affirmed to himself. Worse than the years of abandonment and pain, pity in her beautiful eyes. Harnessing the Force, he bitterly threw her through the air, the look in her eyes imprinted on his mind that he couldn't escape. She screamed until she slammed into a tree and fell to the ground with a thump, the impact causing snow to spray up around her as she lay still on the ground. He stood for a moment, looking at her fragile and lifeless form in the snow. He tensed his hands into fists. Something about her lying there, helpless in the cold, that look in her eyes that he couldn't shake, made him feel strange. He turned away from her vulnerable form and began to pace back and forth through the trees and snow. It didn't help, so he used his current physical discomfort to give him clarity, hitting the fresh wound in his shoulder. It helped; the injury was sore, and the cold had numbed it, but his insistent thumps against the charred flesh made him growl as his blood flowed over his gloved fist. Pain: pain had always helped cement his place in the dark. He yelled into the air. He was resolved. This was his path it was. Kylo felt a tug at his waist and spun to see his lightsaber fly into her hands. He'd been distracted, lost in his own thoughts, and he hadn't heard or felt her awaken. The look on her face, at his weapon in her hand, showed she was as astonished as he was. He stared at her in disbelief as she ignited his weapon, the red beam glowing across her face. For a moment, he was bewitched, but his initial amazement gave way to outrage. His lightsaber, his crystal, had gone willingly to her, and now she intended to use it against him- him!
"That saber belongs to me!" he yelled, pointing at her.
"Come and get it!" she cried back.
He failed to keep a mildly amused smile from the corner of his mouth, along with a sarcastic grunt. So bold, so gutsy, he'd forgotten how brazen she was. He hit his shoulder once more, and drops of blood fell to the snow as he charged toward her. She swung at him, not without skill; she obviously had some knowledge of combat but certainly without grace. She was clearly used to a different, heavier type of weapon. She swung too hard, and her footing faltered. He easily ducked beneath the blade before standing and harnessing the Force, blocking it from cutting him in two as she spun around. His spare hand got a grasp on the hilt, and they wrestled for control. She was putting up a good fight, but he was physically more substantial, and he managed to bend her arm down, and the blade of his lightsaber spat upon the frozen ground as they both growled with the exertion. He took his eyes off the blade on the ground to look at her. She was so close to him; her face grimaced as she strained and struggled. It would be so easy to shoulder her in her face and take control, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Kylo looked at her a moment longer, considering, before he utilised the Force and swept Rey's feet from under her, spinning his blade in his hand so as not to strike her as she fell.
He was impressed. He'd always known she was strong with the Force; why else would he have seen her for all those years, felt her in the Force even after his turn to the dark, and been able to find her on Jakku? This wasn't like the others he'd come across, Voe, Hennix or Tai. This was something else. She was something else. She could do things without training, her ability in the Force raw and inexperienced done on instinct. Her feelings drove her and fed her as they did him. She could be a formidable ally if she would join him in the dark.
"You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the Force," he said, standing over her.
As she scrambled back to her feet, he extinguished his lightsaber, placed it back on his belt, never taking his eyes from her, and then offered her his hand.
He'd always wanted to find her and have her trained. Now, he could be the one to train her; she could stand at his side, and together, they could overthrow Snoke and rule the Galaxy. The vision he'd had reading her mind suddenly seemed to make sense- her on the throne and him at her side, their kiss.
"The Force," she whispered as she peered at his gloved hand, a dozen emotions flickering across her face: confusion, desire, alarm and dread.
"Please," he whispered as he extended his gloved fingers.
She began to raise her hand, and just when he thought she would surrender to him and to the dark, he saw her intention and attempted to stop her. His saber hung in the air between them as they fought for control. How was she able to do this? He had to use all his strength. She was desperate, and then everything changed in a burst of brilliant light. Fiery white agony struck him, and he and his lightsaber flew through the trees. Kylo's flight was broken as he smashed into a tree trunk. He crashed to the ground, the broken tree top falling above him but thankfully not crushing him beneath its branches. He lay there looking up at the stars, the flakes of snow falling lightly from the sky, trying to breathe. He'd endured this pain many times over but never like this. Kylo rolled onto his front, scrambled out from under the tree, and then attempted to get on all fours in the dirt-covered snow, but he was labouring to pick himself off the floor; it was an effort. Snoke had regularly used such powers on him to force his submission or to punish him, but the agony coursing through his veins now was unlike anything he'd felt before. His breath shuddered from his chest from the strain, but he managed slowly to reach his feet. His ribs and spine were definitely bruised, but it was the blistering affliction in his blood that was causing him to struggle. Opposite him, Rey stood not looking at him but at her hands, abject terror all over her face.
Rey was yelling through her gritted teeth with exertion as she and Ben struggled for ownership of the weapon. She had no chance against him without something else; she longed for her trusty staff. She could give him a good hiding with her staff, knock some sense into him. He was in there somewhere. Every now and then, she saw it. She'd seen it just before they'd entered this particular standoff. It was so clear as he offered her his gloved hand entreatingly in supplication. His plea, "Please." She had considered his offer; she'd been alone so long, and he'd been her only friend. At that moment, Ben had been before her again, her friend and he was offering her everything she had ever wanted, but it wasn't just him. He had a master, an evil master who wanted her, and she most certainly did not want them. His offer also came with conditions she didn't want to know about, the dark side of the Force, and so now they fought internally for control of his weapon.
As she struggled desperately to win Ben's weapon, something happened, and Ben was suddenly flying through the air, the lightsaber following vaguely in his path. He'd crashed into a tree and was now struggling back to his feet. Rey stared at her hand, which had been urgently pleading with his weapon to come to her, begging Ben to stop. She'd been thinking of everything Ben had told her as a child: imagine it in your hand, how it feels. She'd tried to use her feelings, but instead, white incomprehensible power had surged from her fingers, flinging him like the doll he'd given her into the woods. She turned to him, desperately afraid but not of him, of herself.
"Ben?" it was but a whisper on the wind amongst the relentless snow, but she knew he heard it. She saw it on his face.
The boy she'd know was opposite her now, not the dark monster from her nightmares. A tiny spit of hope lit her heart as she watched him wave his hand, and for the second time that day, she collapsed into darkness.
Kylo picked his lightsaber up from the snow.
"Bested by a girl who never held a lightsaber, you failed!" he could hear the condemnation now, but he had no intention of hearing it in person.
Clarity had hit him literally and figuratively as Rey had expelled a power someone such as she shouldn't possibly possess. Few in this Galaxy had been able to use Force lightning. Snoke was the current one, and then there were the dark users of history- Count Dooku and the infamous Darth Sidious. It wasn't possible; something strange was at work here, and he intended to find out what.