May the Force be Ever in Your Favor

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The lightsaber crackled in Sty's hand, and Rey could feel her heart racing. It was over before it'd even begun. The tree was going down, and so were they.

Naysori grabbed her hand. "Rey, what do we do?"

"I- I don't know, do we try and shoot-"

"I'll never take her out before she cuts through-"

"I can throw my knife-"

"No." Naysori took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "We need to jump."

"What? We can't jump, we're 30 feet up and over a pack of-"

"No, not down." Naysori pointed to the next tree over. "We have to jump there."

"That one? We'll never make it!"

"It's either that or get cut down, Rey. Come on."

Rey looked down and saw the lightsaber slicing into the trunk like a butter knife. Naysori was right, it was the only way. And they didn't have much time.

"Go!" Naysori yelled as the tree began to tilt, and Rey launched herself.

Her feet landed on a branch and she grabbed the one above her as she centered herself, looking over to make sure Naysori had been able to regain her footing.

Naysori's face was scrunched up in obvious pain, but she held strong to the trunk of the tree. Her eyes flitted over to Rey and blinked in relief.

The tree came to a thunderous crash and the ground beneath them sent a vibration quaking up its trunk. The girls held tight to its branches.

Rey scaled the branches down to where Naysori had attached herself and looked down at the fallen tree.

"Clever move, girls. But I can just do it again." Sty teased from the ground, already winding up her lightsaber in her hand to strike down their current elevation.

Rey looked around and her heart jumped to her throat once again. There were no more surrounding trees within jumping distance.

Naysori's eyes desperately looked to Rey, the realization clicking in her brain as they exchanged eye contact.

They were out of options.

Naysori looked away and shut her eyes against the trunk. Rey felt her heart break. This was the end. They weren't going to find Jude and the others. They weren't going home. It was over before it'd started, and Rey felt tears brewing. All she could hope was that her friends won.

But suddenly, as Sty brought the lightsaber to the edge of the trunk, time seemed to slow down.

Rey closed her eyes in defeat, but instead, everything came flooding in.

Who said you had to use it to grab it? Ben's face appeared, whispering the words he'd to her before. They vibrated in her mind and bounded around, repeating themselves and overlapping into a hum. Her eyes fluttered as she processed them, desperately seeking one last chance at survival.

And the solution appeared as clear as day.

Rey could feel the energy that surrounded her, flowing through the air, vibrating in her senses, waiting, thirsting to use her as a vessel. She silenced herself, the brain activity that prohibited it from taking control, and let it course through her veins.

And below them, the lightsaber began to spark.

Sty's eyes glanced down at the weapon in her hand, confused. "What the hell?"