•LEGACY - A Reylo Story•

EPISODE LXXIV - GUNPOINT

"Where is the training place?" Finn asks as they disembark into what looks like a steaming forest. It reminds him of King Prana's planet, and he cringes at the memory. Hopefully there aren't any rampaging nexus here.

"This way." Poe glances at him. "You were—never at this one?"

Finn shakes his head. Together, the three of them and two droids tramp through the woods, trekking uphill.

"Stop!" calls out a small, high-pitched voice.

Shit.

A small girl, hair dark and skin tawny, steps out from behind a tree, wielding a blaster as long as her torso. It shakes in her hand. "Who are you?"

"We're—" Poe glances at Finn, at Luke.

It's no use. The girl spots the lightsaber hilt in Luke's hand and shrieks. "A Jedi!"

"Calm down," Finn says, holding out his hand as he steps in front of his father. "We're not going to hurt you."

R2 blips nervously.

The weapon trembles in her grip. She's got to be what, five? Six? Seven, maybe?

"Can you put the blaster down?" Finn requests.

"No." She whirls towards Poe, aiming the weapon, but the movement and the bulky shape prove too much for her. It slips from her grasp, crashing onto a stone.

"Hey—"

The girl throws her hands in front of her face as if terrified that they'll now shoot her. She races through the trees.

"Hey!" Poe turns to them. "I'll go after her. You—get to the center. You have the map, Luke." And then he's gone, BB-8 streaming after him.

"Is that a good idea?" Finn hollers after him.

"She doesn't have a weapon any more," Luke reminds him. "Do you think she can even go back?"

"Not if she doesn't want to get the shit kicked out of her," Finn comments bitterly. He kicks at the blaster. He clears his throat. "If she found us, there are bound to be more. The rest of her division."

R2 bleeps sadly, as if apologizing to Finn.

"How many in a division?" Luke asks as Finn starts climbing up again.

"It depends on how many haven't made it this far. They're young, so probably it's large. But you never know. There were only four who made it from the FN division." Finn gulps as he remembers Slip, and Nines... both dead now.

As for how we made it... Finn doesn't want Luke to ask. He doesn't want his father to know. He has to know, or at least have guessed.

Yes, I was cruel when I had to be.

But I hated it.

Does that count for anything?

He didn't often have to be. He succeeded in other ways. The few moments he remembers convinced Finn that he didn't want to be like that, but no one ever understood.

"Put your hands up," interrupts a brittle voice. Another kid, pale-skinned and fair-haired, points a blaster at both Luke and Finn, and this kid's hands aren't shaking.