A New Force

Chapter V: Trails of the Past

"What do you mean you don't know how to solve it?" Rey seethed at the Force ghost before her, shaking the ancient contraption in his face.

Luke lifted his shoulders.  "I didn't even know the boy figured it out.  I left it behind, assuming it was a hunk of junk my Master had given me as a joke."  Honestly, Luke wouldn't have put it past him.  "All I ever used it for was to find Ahch-To.  Once I did, I eventually returned it here.  It felt right that it rested with the Padawan I gave it to."

"Well how did... how did Ben know where to go?"

"I suppose when Kylo died, Ben got many of his suppressed memories back.  He knew it was his only chance at walking as a living man again,"  Luke looked stoically at the girl before her.  She was once young, naive, and weak.  The Jedi who stood before him now pulsed with power, a great power that grew tenfold when the dyad was together.

"Look, Rey.  If Ben could figure it out, I know you can.  Or he can help you.  Your connection remains, even as realms separate you.  I'm sorry but, I will be of no help in this matter."

With that, his Force ghost disappeared, and Rey rolled her eyes.  Just like Luke to come and go whenever he pleased, no explanations provided. 

She stared down at the ancient trinket in her hand.  She could feel the power that was held there.  If only she knew how to wield it.  Rey held it for some time, even as darkness fell and the rest of her crew had finished dinner and was now asleep in their chambers.

Holding the compass, she felt helpless.  She was mesmerized as it opened and shut with the wave of her hand, revealing the small blue orb in the center.  The Aurebesh inside seemed to direct the dials in some sort of cosmic East, West, North and South.  Even her Master, the supposed original owner of the device, didn't know what to do with it.

What if this was it?

She had come all this way to hit a dead end, and all she was left with was a piece of space junk.  An ancient relic that was meaningless unless it was in the right hands. 

The right hands.

The least she could do was try.  Every time she had reached out to him, she couldn't reach him.  But maybe, after weeks of meditation and practice, she would be able to do it.  She had to.  She didn't know if he had the strength to reach her again.

Sitting on her bed, she held the compass in her lap and closed her eyes,  slipping into meditation.

She practiced often, and it came easily to her now.  It was reaching Ben that was the tricky part.  He had spent many months reaching to her, finding her in the galaxy and appearing in the night.  Rey, on the other hand, had no experience. 

Emptying her mind, she focused on Ben.

Where are you? Ben, where are you?

At first her mind was blank, and she almost gave up again out of the frustration of numerous failed attempts.  Then, she saw it.  A glimmer of light in the darkness.

Ben, show me.  I need your help.  Where are you?

The light came closer, and she had to focus harder on the path towards it. 

Ben, where are you?

Suddenly, she gasped and opened her eyes.  Her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest, as she took in her surroundings.  She was surrounded by beautiful plains, a deep green forest in the distant background. 

This was an unfamiliar planet to her.  But Ben had brought her here.

"Ben?  Are you here?"

Rising to her feet, she felt like an idiot, standing in a field and calling for a large, tall man that was clearly nowhere to be found.