Ouroboros

Eleven

Eleven:

Clinging to the shadows, Ben managed to stay in the relatively poorly lit maintenance tunnels and out of sight as he headed to the nearest exit point to the interrogation cell. He had to get off the ship and to Dathomir as soon as was possible because she was in danger. That much was obvious through the Bond that had miraculously opened for a few moments to give him hope once more...but had caused him more fear. Snoke was there-and, coward that he was, he feared facing his old Master. The fact that even a small use of the force had drained him so badly was profoundly disturbing because he would need to be at his strongest to even hope to survive but another, more pragmatic, part of him reminded Ben that even that small gesture had been a triumph.

Though it really didn't feel like it, he conceded.

The problem was the darkness, the old familiar calls of pain and fear and panic. The anger at how he had been treated, then and now and the siren call to vengeance. Every panel and bolt of this ship reminded him of the monster he had been and the echoes in the Force were like a drilling buzzing through his mind constantly. But Rey had believed in him, had expended some of her own life force to save him and for her-and for himself-he forced the blackness down once more.

"Ben?"

His head snapped around and he peered at the opposite wall...

...he saw her, standing on a shattered plateau, a roiling blood-red sky framing her and jagged mountains edging the horizon. Her eyes were wide with anxiety until she saw him and he felt warmth blossom in his chest as her expression grew relieved. He rose and walked towards her, staring into her face, seeing her nose scrunch as she saw his face.

"Ben? What...?" she asked, concern flooding through the Bond. He shook his head to reassure her.

"It's nothing," he reassured her, his lips curling in the slightest hint of a smile. He hadn't really smiled for years and the action was unfamiliar. Her brow furrowed and she raised a hand to touch his face, the sensation light and tender. He had expected her hand to go through his flesh but she felt as real and solid as he was, the callouses on her fingers just discernible.

"It doesn't look like nothing," she commented and he found himself smiling more obviously at her concern. She was dead, a disembodied Force ghost and she was worried about a few bruises? "I felt your pain."

His smile faded and he nodded.

"It was inevitable," he admitted. "I was the monster you called me. I ruled by fear, not through loyalty. Even the Knights of Ren turned on me." He sighed. "Where are you?" She shook her head.

"This was where I was led," she admitted. "Master Yoda and Master Luke told me this was a Dark stronghold, a place where evil reigns..."

"You are on Dathomir," he said, his eyes flicking over her surroundings. "Where's Snoke?" She shuddered.

"He vanished," she admitted. "But I know he'll be back. He wants to return-and he needs me to do it." Ben gave a weary nod.

"I should have known that he would try,' he confessed, raising a hand hesitantly hover over, then touch her face. He found himself smiling as she looked up into his eyes.

"Ben...I think it's him or me," she told him, her tone concerned. "He said to come back, it would need what I could not give, what my friends couldn't offer and a sacrifice that no one could complete."

He knows, Ben realised with a sinking sensation in his chest and then saw her expression change. She had felt his anxiety surge through the Bond. "Stay away from him, Rey. Flee if you have to. He is too powerful to face alone." She gave a wry smile.