To Be So Lonely // Ben Solo

24

His sudden anger was very clear to Cyra as they fought through the Guardians of Corvax Fen. She assumed these red-dressed people were members of Alazmec of Winsit, the Darth Vader worshipers Ben wanted to find first. She thought they were going to ask questions first and do the fighting later, but Ben apparently switched to comply to his own agenda.

He slammed through the first member that confronted them at their landed ship. From there, Cyra had to pull her lightsaber fast to defend against the frightened and defensive worshipers. Where she was only slashing to disarm or knock out those who crossed her path, Ben was simply slaughtering everyone in sight.

As he was ahead of her, she didn't have many people to fight against. He killed the majority. She stepped carefully between their strung bodies, her face frozen in fear as she saw the singed circle of a lightsaber stab in each of their bodies. She tore her eyes away from the bodies to find his tall figure among the crowd.

She watched him grab the shirt of a worshiper and slam his body down to the ground so hard he could not even move to get up. Seconds later, Ben pulled another to his arm and shoved the saber through his abdomen.

"Ben!" Cyra snapped, finally, having seen enough.

Ben released the body and let it fall. He turned to face her, the sweat on his forehead crinkling the hair across his head into waves. His eyes were feral. His posture was hunched, in fighting stance, and his lightsaber was tightly pressed into his hand.

"Ben," she said again, slower. "What the hell was that?"

"I sense something," he said, turning away from her. He stepped carelessly over the bodies he just murdered and walked briskly into the charred trees.

He was different. Something about this place was altering his mind. He disappeared into the trees and Cyra was forced to track him through the ash covered ground, looking for where the white footprints led her. She was warm, the climate of Mustafar well over what she was used to. The planet was straight red when they saw it from space and she knew why now--it was covered in lava and active volcanoes.

A crack shifted Cyra's head to trace the loud noise. She saw Ben standing over a podium, the crack having been him pushing a concrete slab off of the podium. His hand reached into the stand and he pulled out a triangular shaped prism, beaming bright green. He turned to show it to Cyra.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's a Wayfinder," he said.

She didn't want to question how he knew. She sighed. "A finder to what?"

"Let's find out," said Ben, already starting to push past her.

"Hold on, hold on," she snapped, grabbing his arm to hold him in place. He tensed under her grip, something he had not done in a long time. They both separated.

Ben held the Wayfinder closer to his chest.

Cyra squinted. "What is with you right now? We landed on this planet and you killed everyone. We were supposed to talk with them, see if they knew anything about Palpatine."

"They weren't going to cooperate," he said immediately. His eyes held to hers for a brief moment before he looked away, seemingly speaking faster than what he believed in.

"You don't know that," argued Cyra, shaking her head. She looked around, her fingers wiggling uncomfortably. "Ben, you're scaring me. This place is scaring me. I feel...so dark. Dark energy here."

While Cyra was clearly physically uncomfortable by the pure energy exuding from the planet, Ben seemed to revel in it. "I feel it, too," he said casually, ignoring how Cyra felt about it. "It led me to the Wayfinder. These people must have found it in Vader's castle, kept it safe."