Us Against the World

13

At dawn, I awoke from my position lying on the grass, looking over to the small group of huts. Chewie had offered me the falcon but the memories of Han were suffocating. Rey had taken to sleeping in a hut beside Luke's and as much as I wished to do the same, something about watching having the stars watch over me as I slept gave me peace.

Today would be the beginning of Rey's training and I wished to send her my luck, watch her off as she went with Luke to try and condense Jedi training into three days. When I stood to walk towards where she would be, I saw her standing alone, looking at the air in front of her. I could see her shock and anger from over here. Curious and eager to see what was hiding out of my sight, I made my way over.

The closer I got, I knew she was definitely talking to someone. But the more steps I took, I realised that she was talking to herself. Now for the weeks I had known Rey, that wasn't something she did, meaning either she was hallucinating, the island driving her mad, or I couldn't see who she was talking to. I felt a surge of force energy as I got nearer, standing by a hut and observing her. There were two small aliens by a hut just past her, but her eyes weren't on them, they were on the air.
"What do you mean, like what happens with Lowla?" Her face was filled with confusion now, trying to wrap her head around what she had apparently heard. I felt change, like someone was looking at me but I couldn't see them. I heard whispers around me, almost as if the person was standing beside me but I couldn't catch what they were saying.
"Get away from her!" Rey shouted and I looked at her in shock. Deciding that whatever this was had to end, I walked over. I called her name gently, placing my hand on her shoulder. She snapped out of whatever daze she was in, looking to Luke who was focused on the aliens and what they were doing. I asked her if she was okay and she just nodded, looking back in the direction she had been before. Then she turned and moved towards Luke, while I was left wondering what I had just witnessed.

I had followed the two. They were halfway up the mountain before I decided to follow them, not being able to sit by and not watch Master Skywalker return and teach. Even as I was approaching, I could feel Luke teaching, the passion for the force, for the lessons flowing down to mountain to consume the whole island. When I stepped foot in the temple, I felt a shift.

It wasn't warm any more. I couldn't feel Rey looking at the whole island, understanding everything, seeing for the first time the force that I spent hours watching over and feeling. She had gone to the dark, found it and was drawing nearer. I ran to where Master Luke was standing beside her, his face one of horror and fear.
"It's calling me." She said, nerves coming through. The small rocks around her began to float and I watched as the stone floor cracked, more rocks tumbling from the top of the mountain. Rey was doing what Ben had, only much, much quicker.
"Resist it, Rey." Luke instructed, beginning to shout her name to reach her. Seeing that he was having no luck, I did the one thing I knew would work.

I ran to her, placing my hands on her shoulders and using the force inside me to pull all the darkness away from Rey and wake her up. I had done this with Ben when he wouldn't wake up. We used to meditate together but sometimes he would slip further away, Snoke probing his mind to pull him away from me. When things got bad, I would try to pull the darkness away from him and from what Ben had shown me of that night, I had been doing it in my sleep as well.

I was hit with darkness. Pure. Unfiltered. Dark. This was larger than anything Ben had ever given me. The force of the dark side suddenly running through me so suddenly forced me to the ground as I heard Rey wake up, hearing the hum of Luke and Rey talking. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I saw it was Luke. I looked at him and nodded, telling him I was fine before turning to Rey to see her recovering slightly.
"I've seen this raw strength only twice before: Lowla with the light side of the force and in Ben Solo with something much worse. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now." I could see the heartbreak in Rey at the thought of Luke not wanting to train her as he left. I knew that she didn't truly understand her place within the force, and feeling as though Luke hated her must mean she was something really dangerous. I knew where that kind of loneliness could lead.

"Come on, I'll teach you deflection." I told her, gesturing to her to follow me. I planned on teaching her how to deflect blaster bolts. I'd start the same way I had learnt with Ben, with large sticks and rocks. It was the best way to learn without any risk to her wellbeing. That, and by the look on her face, she could do with hitting something.

The next day, I was watching Rey swing around her stick. I had to hand it to her, she was good with the pole she had fashioned. I watched as she looked at her bag, pulling out Luke's saber before looking up to me, asking for my guidance. With a nod from me, she ignited it, staring at the blue light. This time, her movements were slow, calculated, as she listened to the hum of the laser as it sliced through the air.