Force Destiny

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The climb down to the floor of the cavern took Finn and Rose longer than they had hoped. The descent with ropes was slow, and the cave stretched much farther down than they had originally thought. By the time their feet touched the cavern floor, Chewbacca had run through a blizzard from the Millennium Falcon and was only a few meters behind them. When asked how he could descend a cave wall so quickly, Rose caught 'wroshyr trees' and 'Kashyyyk' in the limited Shyriiwook she understood. When they reached the bottom, they found it completely covered in several meters of snow...and no sign of their friend.

"Rey!" Finn's voice echoed through the cavern. Chewbacca's howl reverberated off of the cave walls. They waited, listening for the faintest cry for help, but there was nothing. They all knew where she likely had fallen if she had been scaling the cave wall. Rose covered her mouth with her hand, Chewbacca whimpered, but Finn refused to imagine what befell his best friend. He wouldn't leave that cave without her.

"What do we do? Where do we look?" Finn dropped onto the ground and began digging with his bare hands, searching blindly in an area large enough that it would take hours to find her by chance. Rose collapsed down a few meters away from him, searching, but it seemed more for his sake than anything else. The Wookiee was digging on the other side of her, his giant paws making faster work than either of them could. Still, there was a hopelessness settling over them, both Rose and Chewbacca glancing at Finn to see if he would come to the same conclusion they had. Finn refused to come to any conclusion except that his friend needed help. His fingers burned like they were on fire as he dug, the cold bit his lungs every time he drew in a breath, but the pain was meaningless compared to the ache in his chest every second that fell away without finding her.

"Rey!" He gasped. Finn begged for a sign from her, any clue that would direct him to where she was. Rey could be anywhere under their feet, and all of it looked like the last place he had randomly searched through. "Please, Rey," he begged. "Say something!" The silence that answered back was sickening. He panicked, throwing snow around wildly, searching for any movement underneath. Part of him knew that the panicking wouldn't help her, but he couldn't stamp down the growing fear that gnawed away at him. What if they couldn't find her? The First Order had left, likely believing they were dead, but what if they returned? He had shifted over several meters, when, for a reason unknown to him, he stopped.

Finn listened. The air around them had changed. It had grown even colder and... heavier. There was no steady crunch of boots in the snow to signal another presence in the cavern, but something prickled on the back of his neck, suggesting there was. It was the grave silence that sent a shiver down his spine. He glanced at Rose, whose stare was fixed over his shoulder. Finn's eyes flashed to Chewbacca, who had his weapon raised to something behind Finn. He dared not turn around.

"Where is she?"

The deep voice cut through the deafening silence. Finn knew that voice. The last time he had heard it behind him, he was kneeling in the snow, just like this. He remembered the way "Traitor!" had echoed through the forest. He remembered the quick and powerful strikes, the burn of the crimson blade. He remembered those haunting eyes, wild and burning with bloodlust. He had been cradling an unconscious Rey back then; he would give anything to hold her safe in his arms now. As the labored breathing behind him moved closer, Finn slowly reached for the blaster under his jacket.