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[goazon]

everything and anything

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[goazon]

I guess you'll have to travel with me for now. I don't think I can leave you out here.

[ The Force had flung one of the greatest legends into her path, and while Rey was beyond a little freaked out about the whole thing, she knew she couldn't exactly leave Anakin here on Tatooine. ]

We might have to figure out something to tell Chewie about you before we go, I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to know who you are, at least not until we figure out to do.

[ For whatever reason Rey felt that it was right to help him, even if it meant getting sidetracked from the course she had been put on by General Organa. Rey didn't want to think of what Leia would say about the situation she found herself in. ]

[chosenfordarkness]

[ He whips his head up to give her a sharp look- one that suggests she wasn't going to just leave him there in the first place. There was no way he was going to be imprisoned on Tatooine again. ]

If you thought for a second you were leaving me here, you're out of your kriffing mind.

[ Anakin doesn't want to think about what would have happened if she'd never shown up. He would have figured something out, but it likely wouldn't have ended well given the new galactic climate. He frowns, not sure who Chewie is, but it makes sense that she didn't come here alone. Smart. Whoever that is, they'll probably be concerned before too long. ]

..No, I don't think that's a good idea, either. The fewer people that know of my existence, the better.

[chosenfordarkness]

[ As far as he was concerned, every single planet that only harbored sand should be destroyed. It offered no life worth living. Thankfully, when he voiced his opinion to the Emperor, it was met with amusement. His personal feelings on the matter held no weight when his Master wanted something. Which was why he was on Jakku. In the middle of nowhere. With sand whipping about and getting absolutely everywhere.

Force, he hated sand.

The Observatory looked on the outside like it hadn't been observing much by way of company for quite some time. Then again, sand was a deceitful thing and could make even a freshly-walked path look unbeaten. It will work to his benefit. Getting in was just as easy and the stale air that greets him is promising. The likelihood of having to kill scavengers or whatever beasts have made the observatory their homes is winding down to a halt.

His footsteps echo down the corridors as he searches for what the Emperor said would still be found deep within. He's grateful that he decided to go alone despite his Master's wishes. He's more than capable and anyone else would slow him down and be a liability should something arise.

Rumors stated that the mask of Darth Bane was within, and Palpatine wasn't without his frivolous collections.

As he's searching, he senses something. No, not something. Someone. Someone strong in the Force. Not yet, but perhaps... It had been quite some since he'd felt someone like that, and it intrigued him. Even if it were a Jedi or someone looking to take down Darth Vader, they'd be no match for him.

Stalking back down the halls, he abandons his search for the moment. ]

Come out, come out, wherever you are.

time for a ROCK PARTY :D

[soloflight]

Are you a person? Emperor's black bones, what did one even make of that? Voices in the Force were one thing, but he was pretty sure he just heard a distinctly female voice from the rocks, and had just asked him if he was a person. So, yes, whoever she was, she was speaking directly to him. Was she Zonama Sekot? Had the planet come to commune with him?

With the grace of a seasoned Jedi, he pushed himself to his feet and headed towards the cluster of rocks where he'd thought he heard the voice from. "I'm here," he answered, crouching down by them. He stretched out a hand, feeling for which rock in particular — ah, there. A smooth blue stone that looked positively normal and yet felt anything but.

His fingertips came to rest on the rock's surface, and he could almost swear he could sense something from it. A pulse, a heartbeat. Life. It must be the living planet. "Yeah, I'm a person. Are you... who are you?"

[goazon]

I can't leave you can I?

[ This is so much more than Rey signed up for - all of it went far above and beyond anything she could have imagined while stuck on Jakku. Still, as ridiculous as it all might have seemed she meant what she said to Anankin. She wasn't leaving him behind and come what may, he'd travel with her for a time, until he wished otherwise. ]

We'll figure out what to say to Chewie, and you'll come back with me. The Force had to have had a reason to bring us together like this.

🖋️ battleswithin

[goazon]

Han Solo had likely been gambling his whole life, Rey couldn't tell for sure but she certainly got the feeling that the man was no stranger to risks, and this time, perhaps, it had paid off abundantly. For better or for worse, he and Leia had their son back, and Rey seemed to be caught in the whirlwind of this unexpected but not undesirable turn of events. She came in tow with Han when they'd brought Ben, Kylo, whoever he was to see his mother, and somehow got stuck tagging along after their happy family reunion. She kept her distance, observing what an actual family dynamic looked like in an almost academic and faintly envious light.

Rey kept to herself as the days passed. She corresponded with Finn every so often but he wanted details of what was happening between the former First Order poster child and his parents, and Rey had none to give him. What she did have however, was ample hours in the day to kill, and she spent them in the surrounding forests of the planet Han had brought she and Ben to to reunite with Leia. Vegetation was something that was very much new and wonderful to Rey, and she was happy to have trees to climb and birds to stare at.

And then there were the fish. She’d only seen fish in reference holocrons in the terminal that had taught her everything she knew about the galaxy away from Jakku, but those had been terrifying examples. The ones she was peering at now, at the edge of a small stream were little, multicolored, and more focused on moving through the water rather than devouring anything or anyone. It was childish perhaps, but she still tried to catch one or two in her bare hands, watching as their luminous little bodies evaded her grasp. Rey pulled her hands out of the water, vividly recalling the slippery feel of the fish she’d come so close to grabbing onto and shook her hands, sending water droplets every which way. She was certainly a long way from Jakku, and for the time being it was easy to stave off the feeling of panic that would ordinarily bring out, the fear that at long last her family would come back for her and she would not be there.

Instead Rey let herself enjoy being far away and in such contrary surroundings, it was easy to pull her thoughts out of the Jakku desert when moss was so soft and touchable. It was a small matter to not dwell on the endless days and nights spent waiting for someone who’d yet to arrive when she could instead let her fingertips trace along the lines of the petals on a big flower that hung from the tree beside her. She could disappear into these trees forever, she thought, and in that moment, it would be okay.

[goazon]

[ She has yet to figure out how to stop being so hungry all the time, and part of her feared that she never would.

Nobody came to this place, the old Sith ruins were said to be haunted but when starvation seemed to preside over reason that didn't matter too much to Rey who was all but consumed with the task of finding a way to just - be less tired.

Jakku was hard, Unkar Plutt was terrible, and the older scavengers could be possessive and cruel. The wounds of abandonment still fresh enough that the thought of rescue brought her hope Rey had simply kept on. The rules of the game were clear - find things, bring them to Plutt and be able to eat.

That didn't make this place any less scary.

On shaky, stick-thin legs the little scavenger steps carefully through the crumbling ruins, attempting to ignore the insatiable gnaw of darkness that seemed to ooze from every wall and corridor of this place.

She hates it. She hates it as much as she hates the grating, endless hunger that wants to rip its way out of her and send her crumpled into a ball to the floor.

Rey can feel him before she can see him, though all told she doesn't understand what it is she feels - just that there is someone, and they are dark, and she's caught their attention.

Scampering ahead of the thudding footfalls Rey rounded a corner, huddling into a shadowy alcove as she tried her best to stop from shaking. She can hear him calling to her, aware that she's there and all too aware of the fact that all he'd have to do was turn the corner and she'd be found.

She hates it. She hates this weakness, she hates this exhaustion, and she hates the hunger. There's a part of her that's far too old to belong to someone so young that wishes he'd just catch her and end her suffering.

Still, there's that resiliency that keeps her silent, huddling as close to the shadows as she can to avoid detection. ]

[battleswithin]

Kylo -- Ben -- whatever he decided to go by, when he decided -- didn't regret his decision to leave the First Order with his father and uncle, in the company of the scavenger and the stormtrooper. Or, not always, never fully -- his confession to his father that he was being torn apart hadn't been alleviated by the new surroundings, but there was a lighter quality with the knowledge that he made the choice he'd wanted to make. It sometimes felt worse, being back in his parents' orbit, feeling love and understanding that he didn't deserve. It hovered close to cloying, without ever actually reaching it. He knew it wouldn't last, they were where they were for him, and sometimes he still hated them and himself, always himself, especially when he wondered how he'd ever been able to deny the bright burning that was his parents' love for him.

But he knew how. In a way he was still the lonely boy who grew up on war stories and had the weight of generations on his shoulders. He knew why he'd succumbed, and who had been in his head, whispering lies until they felt like truth. Still whispered. Sleep was an enormous risk, whether his own mind preyed upon himself or Snoke slipped in while he was undefended, with the same mixture of blistering vitriol and gentle praise he'd always used and he'd found empty, but craved all the same. He hated himself for needing it.

He couldn't outrun it, but that didn't mean he wasn't willing to try.

Running was like the opposite of meditation; instead of going into his mind and ignoring his physical body he would become purely a physical being, until his mind became irrelevant and an oblivion of breathe, breathe, breathe, steady pace, feet on the ground, breathe, breathe, breathe.

He stops at the bottom of a tree -- the one Rey is in, unknown to him -- when his lungs are burning and his leg muscles are screaming for him to stop, begging for mercy, and his head pounds in time with his heart pounding. He bends over, taking in deep, heaving breaths. But for a minute, there's no one in his head but him.

[chosenfordarkness]

[ He knows he's getting closer because the fear is so thick it's almost tangible. His steps are steady and unhurried, the Force gives whoever it is away like a beacon. They're just around the corner, close enough to hear him, certainly. ]

You don't need to hide from me. You can even keep this place once I'm through with it.

[ His tone is soft, could almost be mistaken for compassion if there were any to be found in the husk of his former self. He doesn't know if he's capable of such a genuine thing any longer. Anakin stops at the junction between hallways, just listening. Silent as a shadow, but still there. Frozen in fear, perhaps. Why does he bother with what equates to a mere blip on his radar? He could force choke whoever it is and be done with it, go find the Emperor his ancient trinket and go home..

If only this cry from the force didn't feel quite so much like a plea for help. ]

I can feel your fear and your spirit. As well as your pain. [ He pauses, crouching down. ] I could make all of it disappear. You would never have to be afraid anymore.

🖋️flyboy69

[goazon]

[ Poe Dameron was - interesting. He was easy to feel at ease around and Rey was not used to feeling at ease around anyone who wasn’t Finn, but he also made her feel quite stupid. Not as though he treated her like she were unintelligent, as in, all elbows and knees and unable to be as clever as she knew she could be - though it didn’t stop her from running her mouth.

It was fun, and she wasn’t used to fun. Rey was used to working hard, to training. She was used to Kylo Ren tromping around on her heart wearing his dirtiest boots while the weight of their shared emotional baggage threatened to break her back as well as his own. She was not used to men offering to cook for her on the odd chance (it wasn’t that odd) that she eat all the food they had.

There she was all the same, on her way to find Poe Dameron - and the weirdest part was that even if he didn’t feed her, she wanted to see him anyway.

Stepping out into the open air and away from the Resistance base Rey squinted in the afternoon light as she looked around, before heading towards where the X-Wings sat in wait, figuring his ship was the best place to start looking for him - he did fuss over it like no other pilot. ]

[flyboy69]

[ Poe had just finished a routine patrol around the base and was working on his x-wing when a familiar bunned head appeared in his line of sight. They had been teasing each other over comms and messages for days, the pilot being the instigator himself most of the time.

He grins, figuring she's finally going to take him up on his offer for food.]

Rey!

[goazon]

[ Whatever despair she may have been nearing evaporated as a newfound urgency to get away surfaced, leaving her heart racing like a frightened rabbit's.

So, so carefully Rey sunk lower into the shadows, shaky fingers grasping a hefty stone, gripping it with finality. She would run as soon as she threw it, or something terrible was going to happen. That sense of danger was all around her leaving warning bells ringing in her mind. The stranger mentioned her pain, freezing Rey's blood in her veins as his shadow passed over the darkness she hid inside.

She threw the rock the second he was far enough away to give her enough time to get ahead, not pausing when she didn't hear the stone clatter to the floor beyond the stranger's shoulder.

He had gotten close enough. ]

[chosenfordarkness]

[ Oh, he feels her swirling emotions like a vortex. It's powerful and uncontrolled, almost intoxicating to feel another presence in the Force as strong as his own. Where he was a constant thrum, this was something he hadn't been privy to in too long. There was no way he was going to let that go to waste. Even if it was a very brief and painful interlude.

He's pulled out of his thoughts quite violently as pain exploded at the back of his head, making him stumble forward. He would have lost footing had the wall not been so close. Reaching back to touch the spot, he's surprised to find blood, and he can't help but laugh. Someone got the jump on him from behind. How he'd missed them so close, he has no idea.

Whipping around, his vision spots black around the edges for a moment, but he hears the pitter-patter of tiny feet running down the hall he'd just come through and starts his chase again. ]

That was very clever, little mouse!

[ It doesn't take him much time at all to close the distance with his longer legs. He is surprised to see that such a presence in the Force belongs to a child. A child living out in an unforgiving desert.

Anakin smirks, managing to get his hand around one scrawny little arm before all hell breaks loose. The little girl certainly has a pair of lungs as she shrieks as if a demon were upon her. In a way, she wasn't wrong. He feels her resilence and her fight in the Force, violent and sharp, in perfect sync with what happens physically.

The tiny slap to his face is certainly sharper and more ferocious than he was anticipating, but his hold remains steadfast on her arm. ]

Your impudence is unnecessary. Stop your struggling.

[ If only that had worked. A solid kick to the groin and another shriek gets him to let go in pain and surprise. She scurries away, and if it weren't for her Force signature, he would snap her neck and be done with it. Kriff whatever Palpatine was searching for! There's a sharp flare of anger before he controls himself and resumes the chase. She does an excellent job of making sure she keeps her distance, managing to scurry up a pillar before he gets to her. He levels her an unamused expression before deciding to end all of this. Reaching out, he uses the Force to lift her from her spot and bring her in front of him.

Out of arm's reach and suspended with the Force, maybe he can assess the little mouse a bit better. ]

Calm yourself.

[goazon]

[ Halting when she heard the sound of his voice Rey turned, her expression brightening as she finally caught sight of Poe. ]

I was beginning to think you were hiding from me having had second thoughts about feeding me.

[ Which - in all honesty, she would not have been able to blame him for. ]

[goazon]

You could hear him long before you could see him but despite his approaching being unknowingly heralded by the thud of his shoes against the ground and the rough pattern of his breath Rey went stiff as he sprang into view. Her hands clamped down on the limb she had perched herself on as her mouth twisted into a scowl, whatever peace she had found out there shattered in a moment.

Weeks had passed but the sight of him still brought with it a tension, a pang of fear that she loathed herself for. Rey did not like being afraid, she loathed the sense of weakness it brought with it and she especially detested that the source of that feeling was an increasingly frequent sight while she lived her life. Now, alone with nothing more between them than a couple of feet upwards Rey tried to figure out what she was supposed to do.

While a part of her wanted to remain quiet, to stay concealed until he recovered himself and moved on, a far greater part of Rey was impulsive, young, and naive. Lacking in anything resembling better judgement she cleared her throat awkwardly to announce her presence, staying where she was for the time being and more than glad to be out of reach. “Are you alright?”

[battleswithin]

"Kriff." There's not quite any surprise like the surprise that you are not alone when you thought you were, and their presence suddenly being known through the barest of utterances. He glances up, spotting the scavenger girl in the tree immediately, and feeling like an idiot. He should have sensed her there -- would have, if he hadn't been working to close himself off to the Force.

It had worked for a while, and now it came bleeding back. Not just the sensation of her, but the trees, and the crawling things that lived in the underbrush. If his heart hadn't already been racing, he would have noticed the elevation. She asked you a question, he chided himself and belatedly lied, "Fine," and continued to gulp down air.

[goazon]

Rey stared at him,fully aware of the awkward silence that marched through the space between them mercilessly, and not caring one bit if it bothered him. He deserved a little discomfort for all that he had done to her and her mind after all. Watching him pant Rey shifted on the tree branch that had served as her perch, carefully letting herself drop from in to land on her feet beside him.

“How often do you run like that?” She didn’t know him well enough to ask exactly why it was he was running like that, but her curiosity had been proved enough to press at least a little bit. He hadn’t done anything to deserve her niceness, and being gruff was something Rey reached for with ease after a life spent in intermittent, rought company on Jakku.

“You look terrible.” Rey was nothing if not matter-of-fact, rarely saying things she did not mean, and she lacked the urge to stop herself from being frank with him.

[battleswithin]

He shrugs at her question as he shifts, seemingly unsure of what to do with his limbs. "Not that often." Which, again, was not really the truth. It wasn't every day, but it was often enough that it wouldn't have been an unusual sight.

Great, they were going to do this right now. She hadn't seen him since arriving, and for whatever it was worth it was way too soon. He should probably apologize, but he thinks that will require talking about it, and he doesn't know that he wants to navigate that conversation just now. But he looks her in the eye, figuring he can do that much.

He chortles, to be so plainly addressed. "I'm sure I do." He'd seen a mirror recently, it wasn't going to take her keen eye to tell him there were dark circles under his eyes, he was paler than usual, and he'd dropped some weight. He wished he had some kind of cutting remark to make in return, but being here seemed to agree with her, so he didn't add anything.

[goazon]

[ In her short years Rey did not know anger like this, but as he pulled her off the ground with a powerful, unseen hand she could do nothing but writhe against that force, howling her displeasure. She had done everything that she knew how to do, and usually that was enough to work on the older scavengers, scaring them away from her after the first shreking bite and kick or two. For someone so small she could be so fearsome - an ability she would hone to a razor’s edge in later years.

Still twisting against whatever it was that held her up before the stranger, she glares, her jaw jutting outward ferociously, as though if she had the power to, she would crush him like a bug for making her feel so helpless.

She hated feeling helpless, she hated all of this. ]

What do you want?

[ The little girl demanded it so hotly you could almost believe that he had trespassed in her home instead of venturing into the sandy ruins of a far-flung dying world. He had business there, but this was no place for a child, but hunger did funny things to a person. ]

[chosenfordarkness]

[ Her anger was all-encompassing, like a hive of agitated hornets unable to be contained within their hive. It was raw and abrasive against his own presence in the Force. The fear had been pushed to the background, but it was still there- would always be there no matter how much she tried to forget it or be greater than her fear.

It wasn't her focus now, but it could be. Anakin could feel her potential despite her outward hatred and disgust. But oh, how he understood it.

He offers her a condescending smirk, raising a finger to his lips to shush her. Everything about the young girl was noisy, reminding him too much of himself. ]

I already told you, or weren't you listening? I was looking for something important, but I found you instead.

[ The back of his head still throbs painfully, and he reaches back to touch the spot with a wince. ]

You're a resourceful little thing. It's been a very long time since someone has managed to best me. This is a dark place, youngling. Tell me- what are you hoping to find here?

[ He keeps her elevated with the Force, pulling her closer. He knows better than to pull her close enough to bite, but it's easier to study her. ]

[chosenfordarkness]

[ It's not so much a choice for either of them as it is the will of the Force. If they were to ignore it, it's possible it would get worse- and Anakin really didn't want to see what worse would look like. He also didn't want to be left alone, particularly on Tatooine. ]

Just a stranded scavver looking for a ride to wherever you're going. If you've got anything onboard that needs fixing, I could see what I can do. Since you're being so generous.

[goazon]

When the stones replied she gave a jump, looking around the vacant hollowed out ancient tree as if to verify that she was in fact alone, that this wasn’t Luke or one of the caretakers having a bit of fun at her expense.

“If you’re a person, where are you?” Staring perplexed at the pile of stones Rey leaned in closer to squint at them, skepticism rampant on her face. The disembodied voice pressed on, asking her name and making her tilt her head to the side, as if in debate over whether or not whoever this actual but invisible person needed to know that much about her.

Common sense didn’t win often when Rey was presented with a mystery like this one, and in spite of herself she spoke again. “I’m Rey - who are you? Where are you? I don’t see anyone. Do you see me?” Rapidly fired questions were her favorite means of communication, what she lacked in people skills she made up for in voracious curiousity.

[goazon]

[ Rey wanted to cry and just hang there in defeat, limp and starving - but she didn't know how to not fight, at least not yet. The fire of youth gave her a rage that in time would be tempered by a limited foresight honed by years.

If she survived this - and the little scavenger wasn't at all sure that she would. He was strong, and he was mad.

Rey got madder.

Just as her shoulders had begun to sag with a worn in tiredness and the stranger's questions came precariously close to being answered the little girl roared, before rearing her head back, sending a wad of spit sailing in grim defiance in his direction.

Whether she knew she was doing it or not she pushed back against his hold on her within the Force, not breaking that grasp, but giving him enough resistance to fight a little. ]

Kriff off you bantha's asshair! Let me go!

[goazon]

She wanted to glare more intensely at him when their eyes met but instead Rey puffed out a breath, setting aside the worst of her anger for the time being for the sake of sharing space - and for Leia. She had seen it in the General’s eyes - the joy of having her son brought back after so long, and that look had made Rey stay in line and keep her typically big mouth in check.

“Are you - happy to be back?” What a bizarre question - what a surreal conversation to even have. Rey didn’t think most people were called upon to be nice to angry young men who tied them to chairs but - again, for the General.

She rocked back on her heels, unconsciously putting a half a pace more between them, her gaze never leaving his face as she watched him shrewdly, curious and wary in equal measure.

[battleswithin]

By the time she takes her half step back he'd already stepped away. Maybe he would turn and run away, maybe not. As it was, he stood there, staring back at her in something resembling disbelief.

No. No to both parts. "Back" implies somewhere he'd been before, and physically and literally he's never been here -- among the Resistance, this planet, so deeply in his parents' affection -- it was all foreign territory. And sure, happy was in the mix, somewhere, sometimes. Seeing his mother smile and hearing his father laugh in that low, gruff way of his made him feel happy. But it was far from the chief emotion. He mostly felt like an exposed nerve; sometimes even the air and sun on his skin felt like too much. So no. And yes?

"It's fine," he finally answered, studying her carefully in return. He doesn't reach into her mind, but it doesn't take a Jedi Master to feel the suspicion and negative regard that belies her polite words.