Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Regency AU)

IX

Rey, Scavenger

I woke up in a chair, arms and legs tied down and with a massive headache.

I looked up and saw my captor sitting, head down and bored, on a stool.

By the gentle rocking, I gathered that we were on some sort of a ship -- a big one.

He looked up.and stood.

She glared as he slowly circled her.

Somehow, a name came to her.

Kylo Ren.

She noted that.

"You are still afraid."

"That's what happens when you're hunted by a monster in a mask."

He moved his shoulders as though he'd laughed, but his face showed no signs of mirth.  Then he pulled off his hood, I clasping the cloak and dropping it on the floor.

The mask came off next, with a drawing of two satin ribbons.

His hair was as dark as expected, if not much longer.  His eyes were not black, as she'd thought when he wore the mask, but deep brown.

He was slightly less villainous.

And yet still the same.

He stood in front of me.  "And now for the map."

"I'll never give it to you."

He chuckled drily.  "You know I can get whatever I want."

And I did.  He'd been able to hold me still without touching me.  He'd sent me into unconsciousness with a wave of his hand.

He extended a black-gloved hand and a pain started in the back of my head.

It felt someone had attached a rope to the back of my brain and was bringing that part forward, with no regard as to where the rest of my brain was to go.

"You've seen it.  I see it.  You see an island.  In the ocean.  Not one you've seen personally."

"Get out of my head."

He didn't.

I tried to push him out, without knowing what I was doing.

He continued to talk about what he was doing and seeing.  I interrupted him with something that appeared in my consciousness.  "You."

There was so much hatred packed into that word that it almost hurt my mouth to say it.

"You're afraid," I searched some more.  "That you will never be as strong as Darth Vader."

He was thrown off guard.

The pain in my head subsided to a gentle throb.

He stared at me for a moment, scooped up his mask, and ran out the door that was behind me.

I leaned my head back and began to breath deeply.

After about five minutes, somebody cleared their throat.

I tilted my head back farther to see who it was.

It was a stormtrooper.

I put my head straight again.

If I was able to push Kylo Ren out, with what I assumed was the Force, could I do the same thing Obi-Wan Kenobi did nearly three decades before?  Trick the weak-minded Stormtroopers into doing my will?

I decided to give it a shot.

"You will remove these restrains, and leave the brig with the door open."

"What was that?"

Had it worked?

He walked up next to me.

I repeated it.  "You will remove these restraints and leave the brig with the door open."

"I will tighten these restraints, scavenger scum."

He busied himself with my right hand.  I closed my eyes and tried again.

"You will remove these restraints and leave the brig with the door open."

He paused and straightened.  "I will remove these restraints and leave the brig with the door open."

The stormtrooper pulled a knife and cut each of the leather straps.

He started towards the door.

"And you'll drop your weapon?"

"And I'll drop my weapon."

His pistol thudded to the wooden floor.

I counted to one hundred and got up, waiting for my head to stop spinning before I grabbed the pistol and ducked out the door.

It was time to find out how to get off of that ship.

I passed a particularly large and ornate door.

"She is strong with the Force!" someone exclaimed.

It was low and dark, and sounded familiar.  Then I realized that it was Kylo Ren's and that we must be speaking with a superior for his voice to be so much less menacing.

"Bring her to me," another, even more powerful voice intoned.

I ran to a small room and closed the door just as the ornate one opened and Kylo Ren walked out.

I followed far behind as he walked to the room where I'd been held.

When he closed the door, I snuck by.

Red flashed under the door and I broke out in a run.

When I emerged on the deck, I realized how much trouble I really was in.

The deck stretched almost farther than I could see, to the Starboard, Bow, and Stern.

The Port rail was behind me.

I vaulted over it and began to crawl along the outside of the ship, hanging from lines as I monkeyed my way across.

Now if only I could find a ship.