Shades of Grey ► Kylo Ren

The Count.

One of the last stormtroopers left alive came up behind her to arrest her, but as soon as he was within three feet of her, he was thrown back into a shop window hard enough that he broke a bone. Her eyes flashed open for a moment, and Ren saw blatant amusement in her gaze before her eyes closed again. After the first trooper was thrown, Captain Phasma gave an order to arrest her to the rest of the troopers. Isobel hadn't moved, but Kylo could sense just how much her concentration was doing, and how much concentration it had to take. He reached out to at least attempt to disarm her, to make her lightsaber fly into his hand, but it didn't even so much as wiggle. At at least this moment, he couldn't fight her. A dozen troopers stepped forward to arrest her, but all of them were tossed back in a similar manner before Phasma rescinded the order. 

"Commander Ren, what do you want us to do?"

"Pull your troops back, Captain. Begin gathering them near our ships. This is between me and her." he looked at her; her eyes were still closed, her hood was still up, and he could barely see her face, but he could feel the power within her swirling with the effort of maintaining the Force perimeter as he finally retracted his lightsaber and hung it on his belt. He felt the Force Shield that she had created to keep the troops out weaken in the middle, almost like opening a door. Kylo Ren walked forwards until he finally stopped in front of her, only inches away now; his robes brushed her own. Her breathing was deep and even, and then she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"You are better trained then I am, Isobel."

"I have completed my training. I sense that you still have a long way to go." She replied. "But you are no longer a padawan."

"I have questions-"

"I have answers." She replied quickly. Kylo suddenly realized why she was acting the way she was; the surrendering, the smile she wore as they had dueled. She was a Jedi Knight or possibly a Jedi Master (or whatever equivalent of whatever order), and he was not yet of rank in her eyes. She was asking for his respect as someone of a higher rank. He suddenly recognized something in her smile: she had gone easy on him. That's why she was grinning, and why she hadn't smiled when she had strangled the stormtrooper or while she had battled for the lives of the insignificant townsfolk; she was holding back, toying with him. Kylo Ren (although he was far too proud to admit any sort of fear) did not fear many; he feared Snoke, he feared his parents, and he feared Luke Skywalker, but the sight of her deliberately sinister half-smile made his blood run irritatingly cold, and it crippled him for a moment. Isobel felt the wariness, and kept herself calm so that she did not feel the emotions that he did.

Ren only recoiled for a moment, before regaining his composure and extended his hand to her. She was not giving herself up - she was allowing them to take her with them. He had the fullest confidence that if she hadn't wanted to surrender to them, then she would have left the city with the rest of the refugees and then hid out in another star system until he found her again and then the cycle would repeat until one of them killed the other. By her own accord, she was stopping the cycle. She was allowing him to invite her, not to simply take her, as he wished to do. Her look was unreadable as he extended his hand to her, allowing her to stand with him on an equal playing field, despite their sizable height difference.

"Master Isobel, I am here to... extend the invitation for you to come with me as my personal guest." After a beat, she smiled and her lightsaber flew into her hand. As soon as it made contact with her fingers, he felt a large tremor in the Force around him, like the ripple of a tidal wave. Ren tried to slow the rapid beating of his heart as she did this, but instead of igniting it, she handed it to him.

"It would be my honour, sir." He shifted, making sure that he held his mental defenses tight.

"Please, call me Kylo Ren." He saw her smile widen.