Wolfsbane · Kylo Ren

VI

Rey

"Lesson two."

Skywalker stated, as Rey followed him into the mountain.

"Now that they are extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified But if you strip away the myth and look a their deeds the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy, hubris."

Rey frowned.

That wasn't right, jedi were always said to be honorable warriors, peace keepers, noble knights.

"That's not true."

She responded, seating herself next to Skywalker at the edge of the pool.

"At the height of their power, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire" and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master whose responsible, for the training, and creation, of Darth Vader."

Rey couldn't believe this mans pessimism. Did he really see his own order so darkly?

"And the Jedi who saved him. Yes, the most hated man in the galaxy. But you saw that there was conflict inside him. You believed that he wasn't gone, that he could be turned."

Everyone knew the story, of how at the last moment... Darth Vader stood against the emporer, and killed him.

For his son.

"And I became a legend."

Luke said irritably.

"For many years, there was balance, and then I saw... Ben. My nephew. With that mighty Skywalker blood. In my hubris, I thought I could train him, that I could pass on my strength.
Han was... Han about it, but... Leia, trusted me with her son. I took him, and a dozen students, and began a training temple.
By the time I realized I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late."

Rey was glad to hear the story, maybe it would help her come to an understanding of the darkness that was Kylo Ren.

"What happened?"

She asked, urging Skywalker to continue.

"I went to confront him. And he turned on me."

Rey couldn't imagine the pain it must have caused Han and Leia.

Their son, falling to the darkness.

"He must have thought I was dead. When I came to, the temple was burning.
He had vanished, with a handful of my students. And slaughtered the rest. Leia blamed Snoke, but... It was me. I failed. Because I was Luke Skywalker. Jedi master. A legend."

Luke stood, facing away from her, pain evident on his face.

"The galaxy may need a legend."

Rey reasoned, standing as well.

"I need someone... to show me my place in all this."

She admitted, forcing her voice to stay level.

"And you didn't fail Kylo. Kylo failed you. I won't."

·

Mara

As the day reached its end, the rain came again.

It rained a lot on these islands, but todays downpour was odd, eery.

Mara trodded along the path to the cavern in the mountain, loneliness nagging at the corners of her mind.

She was quite used to it, being alone.

But today had been different, far emptier every second she spent, only in her own presence.