Let It Burn

How Long Will You Be Afraid?

Kylo Ren watched Rey go until she disappeared from sight. It was tempting to go after her. But he couldn't do that. There was too much to do. So he swept around abruptly and returned to the ship. His Knights followed silently and they left Lyek Ren in the mud where he'd fallen.

Iton Ren was surprisingly compliant and Rey supposed she was thrown by her master's abandonment. Or perhaps because he had killed Lyek Ren. Rey pushed the Knight ahead of her and clenched her teeth while she followed. This was not how this was supposed to go. He shouldn't have been there...

The rain was letting up by the time they'd reached the temple again and it was a relief to get inside. There wasn't time for a fire, even if she could have found fuel for one, and she left Iton Ren in what was once an antechamber. The great hall was much as it had been earlier, though wetter given the ancient nature of the roof. Taking a deep breath, she approached the contraption. She didn't know what to do to activate it, and was more than a little worried about what might happen to her when she did.

Well, it soon became apparent that she needn't worry about the first part – it began to hum as soon as she got close. She stepped carefully over the debris on the floor and into the center. A light shined out of nowhere, blinding, and she spread out her arms as an energy built up in her chest and needed to escape. She gasped as it hit her, and then everything went black.

Finn was impatient and pacing. Why had she just left? Had she not trusted him and Leia to come up with a good plan? She wasn't usually impulsive and he would have thought she would be less so after all her training exercises. Luke Skywalker was taciturn and he couldn't imagine the man rushing off to face something for which he wasn't ready. If Lyek Ren had gathered the other Knights, there was no way Rey could defeat all of them. She was powerful, and had great hand-to-hand combat skills. But she wasn't going up against some nameless soldiers. These were acolytes of the Dark Side who were feared across the galaxy.

"You wanna have a seat, Finn?" Poe suggested gently.

With a sigh, Finn dropped into the co-pilot's seat. "We have to hurry."

"She's going as fast as she can, buddy. What's the plan?"

"We find Rey and bring her home," Finn replied firmly and Poe smiled.

"Look, I am as worried as you are. But I think we need to have a plan of attack. If these guys are anything like their master, we are going to be in over our heads. Even if Rey's there and can help."

Finn nodded soberly. "You're right. We have our blasters. Maybe we should fly in close enough to use the ship's weapons," he suggested.

Poe grinned. "I like the way you think, man. Alright, dropping out of hyperspace." He adjusted the appropriate controls and the lights around them faded to reveal a single planet looming before them.

"Where do you think she is?" Finn asked quietly, leaning forward to look at their scanners.

"Hopefully safely aboard her ship and we can just meet up with her," Poe muttered.

"I see two ships – no, three! One's just taking off! Should we follow it?" he needed to know.

Poe glanced over and was about to answer when a light burst out of one of the rocky sections of the planet below. They both stared in awed silence for a long moment. "I think we should go that way," Poe suggested.

"Yes, definitely." Finn turned his attention to the scanners, focused on finding Rey. "There are two people in there, I think."

"Rey and Luke, maybe?"