Star Wars: After the Rise

Chapter 1: Searching

Rey stopped in her tracks. She crouched, checking the jungle floor for any signs of movement.

Breathe.

Rey closed her eyes, letting her other senses take hold through the Force.

A broken twig. A rock shifted from its natural position. Trampled leaves...

Crashing sounds broke Rey out of her concentration. She could see her friend Finn tripping over a bush, moving through the jungle as if he were battling it with every step.

"I'm gonna say it. I miss Jakku."

Finn stepped out from the bush, straightening his jacket. Rey smiled and playfully rolled her eyes.

"Come on," she encouraged. "Try to keep up." She jerked her head in the direction of the tracks. With a sigh, Finn continued.

Rey could at least understand where he was coming from. They've been trekking through the jungles of Ajan Kloss for the last three days. After returning from Tatooine, Rey had discovered strange tracks near the old Resistance base. Although "tracks" might've been the wrong name for them. They looked more like wide grooves in the ground, almost as if someone had dragged a large, metal cylinder through the mud and leaves. Everyone else was ready to write off the strange marks when Rey returned, but she felt something more. Through the Force, she felt a strange echo emanating from the area.

Someone had been watching them, and Rey wanted to know who.

Finn offered to tag along, and not just because he was her friend. Before she left for Tatooine, Rey had discovered that Finn was Force-sensitive like her. She wasn't exactly surprised; she had her suspicions ever since they had met. Since they'd known each other, Finn had always shown a keen sense of intuition and empathy. Those weren't traits exclusive to those with a strong connection to the Force, but it was different with Finn. Like her, Force allowed him to know things he had no possible way of knowing. How others were feeling, even if they weren't nearby. It helped him to break free from the brainwashing the First Order put him through, and through that act he has saved many lives.

Now that this was out in the open, however, it presented a new challenge. Finn wanted to learn more about these abilities. He had asked her to train him how to be a Jedi. While Rey had initially agreed to train him, she was beginning to have her own doubts. Finn was one of her oldest friends. She had faith in him as a student. But could she be a teacher? It's a question that's gnawed at her for several days with no answer.

Rey was broken out of her line of thinking by a sharp noise cutting through the jungle floor. She and Finn stopped in their tracks. They looked at each other, silently confirming they both heard it. Rey closed her eyes and reached out through the Force, letting her other senses take over.

Breathe.

Their quarry has been on Ajan Kloss for a while. Ever since the main leg of the Resistance set up their base on the jungle moon, there have been no ships in the system that have gone unnoticed by General Organa nor Rey. Their lookout points on the other moons haven't picked anything up either. Either an exceptional pilot managed to evade both scanners and Jedi despite all odds, or this individual has been here for much longer than them.

"I think we're good," Finn whispered to her.

"I think so too." Rey untensed and sat on the jungle floor. "Let's take a moment."

Grateful, Finn sat down on the jungle floor next to her. He was covered in sweat and dirt. Rey figured First Order training didn't cover long, arduous treks through a dense jungle. Admittedly Rey had taken some time to get used to the humid terrain when they first settled on the planet. It was a far cry from the arid deserts she was accustomed to on Jakku.