Fandom Star Wars: Legacies of the Force [Closed]

[Cory]

“Really?” It wasn’t an extremely long way down but it still raised some concern.

Octavia wasn’t afraid of heights, but being expected to jump down through a hole in the floor and being assured she’d be caught somehow didn’t sit too well with her.

She made note of the fact that Kylo meant to catch her using the Force, and if anything, that only made her more apprehensive. She’d seen it at work, heard of what Kylo was capable of when wielding it, but she’d never heard of it being used to catch someone on their way down from a fall.

The uncertainty was plainly visibly, even as she rose to her feet and prepared to do as he said. There was only one way down unless she wanted to go back and try jumping over the other hole again — which would likely end up in failure. It would have last time too, had Kylo not been there to steady her.

Thinking about that, Octavia convinced herself to take a leap of faith. Stepping forward, she allowed herself to fall through the gap in the floor, and then waited to feel that rush slow down.

~ * * * ~
​

“Ah.” Rey nodded in understanding as Pia clarified her doubt. Chewie also seemed to gain some clarity from her answer. “Just as well. There are peobably enough scary things out there.”

As curious as Rey was about this whole place and all that she was learning, she’d probably avoid tombs and temples if they really were haunted.

There was already so much to worry about. It wasn’t long ago that Rey was only concerned about one thing. That all changed so quickly and Rey found herself being whisked into something much bigger than she initially realised.

Now her concerns were plentiful, and while she knew Luke Skywalker had yet to be found, this was important too if she stood any chance at actually doing what she was capable of.

Pia offered to show them to the archive, to which Rey nodded in agreement before following behind her. “You’re fairly young.” Rey stated an observation that she hoped was correct. “Did it take you very long to properly learn how to use the Force?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo gave a simple nod at Octavia’s doubtful query, and waited for her to make the decision. Sure, he could literally pull her down with the Force, but that wasn’t going to be productive, and he wasn’t sure how long he was going to have to deal with her. So far, she was far from the worst company he’d had on one of these missions – unlike General Hux, or several other officers within the Order.

Thankfully, she did choose to trust him.

When she jumped, Kylo reached his hand out and grasped out not at her, but at the air around her as she began to drop. It was a Jedi trick, one he’d been on the receiving end too many times when he was young in sparring matches, when Luke reached out and made it difficult to push through to him. He’d thought it was like slowing time when he was young.

Now he understood it was rather like what he used to choke people, or stop blaster bolts. Rather than grasping at an individual, or at a bolt, he grasped at the air. The air was impossible to form into anything that would actually halt someone falling, but it did make the fall significantly more difficult, slowing them as they moved through it, like water, or gelatin.

When she would land, it would be slow enough for her to manage to stay on her feet, unless the ordeal was just that disorienting.

In either case, Kylo would turn away, lowering his hand, “This way,” he knew how to find the basements from here.

~***~

Pia would lead back inside, and she cast a smirk over her shoulder at Rey as she called her young, “Are you sure? Maybe I’m centuries old,” it was a tease, of course, but she wondered if it might catch Rey off guard anyways. Still, she chuckled more, and added, “No, you’re right – I’m young. I do not know how long it takes most people to master the Force. I’ve always felt it. I know that isn’t always the case.”

It wasn’t as strong in everyone, nor was it always felt all at once. Pia had been using it since infancy, before she had any real control or understanding of what she was doing. As a toddler, it was worse; tantrums involved items being hurled against walls and shattered. Her Master had broken her of those habits quickly.

“I also don’t consider that I have mastered it yet. There’s so much out there to learn about, so many ways in which it was used throughout history…I doubt a human could ever master it.” Their lifespans were so limited. Then again, wasn’t that one of the goals of the Sith? Immortality seemed to hang on every breath, yet it was something so unattainable.

“All I know is I’ve been practicing my entire life.” Back within the mountainous cavern, Pia was able to navigate towards the archives, shelves built into the rocks, holocrons and books alike preserved within it, and of course, Ivan there.

“O-oh, I’m sorry, I—”

Pia shook her head, “Rey, Chewie, this is Ivan, my archeologist and archivist. He’s almost always here.”

The blonde gave a bashful smile and an inclination of his head, confirming her words by his own mild embarrassment. “Pleasure to meet you both.” He was evidently older than any of the humans in the room, within his early 40s.

 

[Cory]

Octavia felt herself slowing through the air and she released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. With Kylo's help, she'd been able to land on both her feet gracefully, instead of needing to reach out for something to grab onto like before. She was balanced and steady and when she touched the ground, she realised it wasn't as bad as she thought.

If anything, it was admittedly pretty cool to see a lighter side to the force being put to use.

She'd never experienced the workings of the Force first hand before, and to have it not be used as a torture method or a way to get information from her was nice. Unexpected, but nice. A small smile even graced her lips till she looked up at Kylo and remembered where they were and what they were here for.

"Thanks." She expressed her gratitude once again before wordlessly following behind him as he led the way forward, to the basement levels.

She was a bit disoriented. Not because of the jump, but because she couldn't actually remember the last time she'd genuinely smiled. It wasn't very common around her, and she'd never seen it with Kylo. That was likely due to the fact that he had a mask on most of the time, but the realisation made her feel uneasy. Would he truly be happy if all of this ended the way he wanted it to? She didn't think so.

Octavia was itching to ask about it, but she knew she'd be shut down. Expecting Kylo to talk about a time when he hadn't been Kylo was probably a death wish. Perhaps she shouldn't jump to making assumptions, but she needed to be cautious with her approaches. Already she'd practically asked him to go into her mind, and she'd been lucky to get out of that.

"When was the last time you smiled?" She decided to ask anyway, posing it as an innocent question instead of asking what she really wanted to ask. Whan was the last time you felt true happiness? They hadn't reached the basement levels yet so it couldn't hurt to kill time by attempting to make conversation. Kylo clearly wasn't the talkative type, but Octavia would still try.

~ * * * ~​

"I'd find that extremely hard to believe," Rey replied with a smile when Pia suggested she might be centuries older than she looked. Truthfully, she didn't appear to be much older than herself. "but if that were true... then it'd be the most surprising thing I've heard all day." Green force magick and seemingly haunted tombs included.

As Pia answered her, explaining that she'd always felt the Force, Rey tried to think about whether the same applied to her. Had she always known something was there? Not until recently.

Maybe if she'd discovered it sooner she'd have been a bit more experienced by now, and she'd have learned more, but that might have changed the course of things, and who knows if she would have eventually found herself on the path she was now? Helping the Resistance, or searching for Luke Skywalker? There was no way to predict what might have been.

Pia's next words had her wondering if even Luke had mastered it. Or if any Jedi ever had mastered it. There was definitely much more to it than she realised, and to even understand the things that were currently known about the Force likely took many years.

Thoughts of that subsided as they entered a new area surrounded by books and other forms of storage. Rey knew where they were because Pia had told them, but even if she hadn't it wouldn't have taken very long to guess.

She took a moment to take it all in before she directed her gaze at the blonde man before them. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Rey extended the greeting with a smile, and Chewie let out a low moan to accompany her words, which she figured needed no translation.

"So..." Rey paused, turning around in a circle where she stood, "the archives — this place is full of information? Regarding the Force as well?" There was far too much for her to be able to go through in such a limited time but taking a look at any number of books or holocrons that could provide her with some information would fascinate her.

 

[Lucyfer]

This time, the gratitude was easier to shrug off as a force of habit from Octavia, as he walked back through the hallway, and towards a new set of stairs that would lead down. Given not all of the damage seemed to have pierced below the surface, he was hopeful that the areas below were in better shape than the areas above.

He’d find out soon.

Not before he was distracted by another question, though he forced himself to keep moving, even as he grit his teeth together at it. He knew when the last time he’d smiled had been, as much as he knew he couldn’t smile. Ben Solo had smiled. Kylo Ren never had. What kind of question ws that, anyways? Who asked those kinds of things?

It certainly wasn’t anything she needed to know, so rather than answer it, he pretended not to hear it. He doubted she’d repeat it, so when they reached the base floor, he said, “There should be some classrooms down here, we can split up to search them as we come upon them,” that ought to also help prevent further conversation of anything as asinine as smiling. “If we can find one that’s working, we can call to the other."

Well, he supposed Octavia didn’t really need to call to him, she could do her job without him. At least then he’d know he wouldn’t have to keep searching. “Understood?” That had to be simple enough. He didn’t imagine she’d argue to stay together unless she was afraid of some sort of attack. So far, they’d seen nothing of the sort lurking in this area.

The Temple still radiated with the Light.

~***~

Pia nodded to Rey’s query, “Of course,” she said, amused, “Almost all of it is about the Force, be it techniques in the Force, theories on the Force, lightsaber combat, or the history of those who have used the Force throughout the years,” Pia gestured along the wall, “this isn’t even all that we have gathered,” which was true, even excluding the Sith items which had been moved.

“Much of it was lost in the Jedi Purge,” she said, letting her hand fall back to her side, “but not all of it. There were Jedi scattered throughout the galaxy, and some had spread the information as they moved along, even before the purge. Lightsaber combat holocrons seem to be the easiest to find, though,” not a surprise.

That the Jedi were peacekeepers had always been a lie. A very pretty lie that the Republic loved, but a lie all the same. They were not peacekeepers. They were enforcers. They were inquisitors. They were the ones who determined what was right, and what was wrong, and condemned all others with no input beyond their own.

“If you’d like, you can have a look at what’s here, while I check in on food and other things,” leaving Rey alone to talk with Chewbacca, and alone in a room of knowledge, might also convince her to stay longer. She would have so much at her fingertips, and know it was at her fingertips by being given free reign to look it over.

 

[Cory]

Octavia was quite sure Kylo had heard her question, so the fact that he didn't answer it meant he was simply choosing not to answer it. Or even acknowledge it, for that matter. She supposed it was better than him telling her to mind her own business. It wasn't the harsh reaction she expected, which only meant she'd try again later.

Maybe she shouldn't be pushing her luck, but she'd already experienced a few firsts today. Maybe there'd be more.

Once they reached the base floor, Octavia paused to look around. The idea to split up was a decent one. They'd cover more ground and waste less time, so she nodded before offering up a verbal agreement. "Okay."

With nothing left to say, she veered off toward the right and entered the first classroom she came upon. At least the floor was intact, but the computer that sat in the corner wasn't as fortunate. She took one last glance around before stepping back out and heading into the next room she came upon.

Thick vines crawled along the floor, making her conscious of where she was stepping as she moved toward the monitor at the end of the room. This one seemed to be a bit more promising, and the screen held a dull glow.

"Perfect." Octavia immediately pulled out her datapad and plugged it in, watching the screen eventually come to life as she got to work. She barely glanced away once she got started, but she did remember to call out to Kylo. "I found one!"

~ * * * ~​

Rey walked over to one of the many collections of books and brushed her fingers along the spines while listening to Pia. So much about the Force and all things related to it were contained in this place. The most fascinating part of it all was that this wasn't even all the information out there.

It made her wonder how much she would have found on her own if she'd have left Jakku sooner. Maybe it would have taken her longer to arrive on Dathomir, but perhaps by then she would have known have of these things. Or at least part of it. If information was, indeed, scattered all over, she wondered where else she could find such things.

She knew she couldn't allow herself to get carried away — there were still important things she had to deal with, and at some point she'd have to return to the Falcon to see if her transmission had been received and answered. Someone else out there was looking for Luke, which meant that she could spend some time learning, but if he'd been found, then she needed to get moving.

When Pia spoke again, Rey turned to face her, the smile on her face widening a bit. "Really?"

The idea of just sitting down and going through all the various books now at her fingertips was an extremely pleasant one. "I would love that," she admitted before nodding. "Thank you."

All she'd needed was the go ahead. After being told that she could peruse at her leisure — or at least until Pia returned — Rey turned toward another stack of books, wondering where she should even begin. "Oh, Chewie, I know we can't stay for too long, but look at all of this!" She couldn't stop staring at it.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo also began to look around the structure, taking the lead and moving into different classrooms, trying to find something that was still operable after all this time of being abandoned to the elements. He wasn’t finding anything, which wasn’t a surprise, but he knew there had to be something here that was still working!

He wasn’t the one to find it, though.

He heard Octavia’s call from a few rooms away, and turned at the sound of her voice to reunite with her, catching the dull glow of the monitor. He moved closer, and leaned into the wall nearby, “Are we able to get the information we need from it?” He questioned, eying the flickering monitor with doubt.

Was it coming from this one?

Would this one be able to access the information that was being transmitted?

This was where his knowledge and understanding faltered. He’d never been much into software and decryptions, encryptions, or cryptology, despite a love of calligraphy. That hadn’t crossed over into understanding code, and he certainly didn’t understand it now as Octavia began to work on it. He just had to hope she understood it enough to get them what was needed, so they could find the map.

~***~

Rey’s enthusiasm, her smile, were terribly endearing to the Sith who matched the smile with a nod, “Of course,” she said, “there’s no secrets in here I don’t mind sharing.” None at all, in here, she was making a point to be careful with her words so Rey couldn’t call her a liar when it all came out, as it inevitably would.

That it was on Rey for not asking the right questions, or believing the small omissions. Of course, she hoped to be able to tell Rey, down the line…and make it so that Rey understood why it was hidden. She had time for that.

“You’re welcome.” She inclined her head, “I’ll see you in a bit, then,” she’d motion for Ivan to come along with her, as she would leave Rey and Chewbacca to explore the archives.

A few feet away, Ivan asked, “You’re not worried about her stealing?”

Pia shook her head, “No. She wouldn’t get very far,” Pia was able to keep a good feel of those around, so she’d know if Rey ventured too far. That, and no doubt someone would alert her. She set Myrridan to watch for anyone else arriving, in case someone came after Rey. She’d know if Rey tried to leave, too.

“Who is she?”

“Rey,” she repeated the name, though she knew that wasn’t what Ivan was asking. At his dull look, and their entrance into the kitchen, she shrugged, “I don’t know. But you feel it, too, don’t you?”

 

[Cory]

Octavia didn't look back but she heard it when Kylo found her and approached. She tilted her head to the side a little, but her gaze remained on the screen. "If there's something here of use to us, then I'll find it," she answered him.

There was some encryption to get around, which was only slightly problematic. The information that was being transmitted was clearly of importance or Octavia wouldn't have needed to spend as much time trying to actually retrieve the information.

Hacking into a computer system was fairly easy for her. Decrypting code was harder, but not impossible. It took a few more minutes than she would have liked, but eventually she got what she was looking for.

A triumphant smile graced her features as she glanced down at her datapad and watched as the information popped up on the screen. "There we go," she commented, before beginning to study the contents of the transmission.

She had yet to figure out where the transmission actually came from, but that wasn't as important as the information they now had.

What stuck out most to Octavia were the numbers that she quickly identified to be coordinates. She wasn't sure where it led but she was willing to bet that it was where they'd find the map to Luke Skywalker. Lifting the screen a bit higher, Octavia looked up at Kylo. "Look familiar to you?"

~ * * * ~​

The amount of information currently available to her was astounding.

Rey came across maps that covered different parts of the galaxy, and books that outlined different techniques in the Force. There were also several journals that caught her eye, some by Jedi, others by other Force users.

Rey picked up books only to put them back when she found something of more interest. Truthfully, almost everything was of interest, and she tried not to think about the fact that she wouldn't have enough time to cover even half of the things in the Archives.

Chewie offered some help and followed her around since she was moving through the place so quickly and picking out several things that caught her eye. With them now somewhat alone, he expressed his concerns again. What about Luke?

"The map was a fake," Rey declared, "but there are others looking for the real one. Until they get their hands on it, there's nothing I can do to help except learn. You understand that, right?" He took a few moments, but she was soon rewarded with a reluctant groan of agreement. "We won't stay long. I promise."

After a lot of mental debate, Rey picked up a Jedi journal and tucked it underneath her arm while making a mental note to ask Pia if it was alright for her to borrow the book for the night. Once she was shown to her room for the evening, she was confident she'd stay awake and try to obtain as much information from the book as she could.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo retained his silence as Octavia worked, observing, but not commenting, on the process. He did not know how long to expect this to take, whether minutes, or hours. He certainly wasn’t hoping for hours, though he’d remain for however long it was needed. He was thus relieved when it only took a few minutes before Octavia tapped into the transmission and began to bring the information forward.

The coordinates weren’t immediately familiar, but it was nothing he couldn’t figure out as he drew his datapad into his hand and tapped them in. “Ushruu,” he murmured, “Heard of it,” Chewbacca had been there before, but Kylo Ren didn’t actually know much about it. Luke had never taken him there. Still, the tie to Chewbacca made it seem like it was a possibility.

Luke might be putting clues there that Chewie would recognize, or someone tied to Chewie, which were Luke’s allies. It might be something Kylo himself wouldn’t recognize, but he’d turn over every stone to figure it out on his own. “I don’t know much about it,” he said, putting his datapad away for the moment.

He wasn’t entirely satisfied, and it showed, “Are you sure there’s nothing else?” Was that all there was to find? “Would finding the actual source of the transmission here lead to anything further?” He didn’t want to abandon this place, only to need to come back to it later. Others might find what he overlooked, in that case.

~***~

Rey would be given time to go through much, as Pia checked in on the food, on the rooms, and eventually circled back to Rey. She gave her at least an hour before she would return, popping in to see where Rey was at with it all, and noting how nicely things still were. She hadn’t made a mess of going through things, at least, “Sorry to interrupt,” she was, a little.

Rey looked quite engaged.

“There is food ready, if you’re hungry.”

Chewbacca was the first to speak, and though Pia didn’t understand, she was fairly certain it was agreement that he was hungry, as he got to his feet, eager for food of some sort. Pia then looked to Rey, “I’m not sure what it is you’re used to eating, but I assure you, it is all edible to us humans,” thankfully, they’d found things that could be eaten.

That wasn’t true of everything on Dathomir. There was plenty that was poisonous to them, but not to the Dathomirians. They’d figured out most of those things by now, some through unfortunate trial and error.

 

[Cory]

Octavia watched as Kyklo proceeded to bring out his own datapad to figure out where the coordinates would lead them to. She'd never heard of Ushruu. At least with Devaron, the fact that Eedit Temple was here allowed her to make sense of some things when connecting it to Luke Skywalker, but she had nothing to relate Ushruu to, so it was hard for her to tell if they'd actually find the map there.

Then again, had someone told her a piece of the map was on Jakku, it'd have been hard for her to tell then too, so maybe there was more to this new place than she realised just yet.

"I could spend some time figuring out the source of the transmission," Octavia offered. "But I'm not sure if it'll help much beyond leading us in the same direction as these coordinates."

Whoever sent it, if they were here on Devaron still, likely didn't know much more than what the transmission already told them.

"I mean, did you really think there'd be much more than this, though?" Octavia asked, glancing back at the coordinates that lit up the screen of her datapad. "If you were in hiding, you wouldn't leave around detailed instructions that could help your enemy find you."

Octavia shrugged. "I've never heard of Ushruu so I have no idea what's waiting for us there, but the map's not going to be easy to find either way." Finding out the coordinates had been fine, but finding the actual map was going to be difficult.

~ * * * ~​

Rey didn't hear Pia approaching but the sound of her voice made her look up from a book she'd been skimming through. Lifting her head to meet the other woman's gaze, Rey shut the book and rose to a standing position since, for the past few minutes, she'd made herself quite at home on the floor.

"Oh, that's alright." Rey didn't think Pia had anything to apologise for, but before she could express that, food had been brought up and Chewie began to show as much enthusiasm for that as Rey did when she saw the Archives for the first time.

It made her chuckle softly. "Chewie's definitely hungry," Rey explained with a nod, "and so I am, so food sounds great right about now." She hadn't even realised how hungry she felt with how distracted she'd been since stepping off of the Millennium Falcon. "I think the both of us will be fine in terms of food, though."

Remembering the book still tucked underneath her arm, Rey slowed her pace a bit and looked at Pia. "I was wondering, could I borrow this journal for the evening?" She asked curiously, holding the journal out for her to take a look and have a better idea of what she was talking about.

"Just so I can still catch up on some things before retiring for the night," she explained, knowing she couldn't rely on Pia to answer any and all of her questions, all the time. She wasn't even going to be here for too long.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Do so,” Kylo said as Octavia volunteered to identify the source of the transmission, “the last thing we need is for Ushruu to be a red herring,” that was why he was thinking of it further. Things weren’t easy, and he wouldn’t put it beyond Luke to play at a bit of trickery. He really didn’t know what to expect, though he still frowned at the question.

“And yet here he is, leaving around this information to find him,” Kylo pointed out as Octavia implied he shouldn’t expect to find anything more. They shouldn’t expect to find anything at all, let Luke was leaving the clues around. At least, they had to hope this was a clue to Luke; the message apparently didn’t say much in relation to that, just offered coordinates.

All the more reason to look into it further.

“I’ll look into what is known about Ushruu while you handle that,” he added, drawing up the databanks of information he had on his datapad to start browsing anything that they knew about Ushruu. He wasn’t expecting a lot, but at least he’d be doing something while Octavia tracked down the source of the transmission before they moved on.

~***~

Rey was quick enough to get up, and admit to a similar hunger as Chewbacca. She also seemed to have stumbled upon a book of interest, or rather a journal. Pia glanced at it, noting with familiarity it was one she’d read before. “You may borrow anything during your stay here,” Pia answered.

There was no problem in that. While they were here, the books and other items remained here. It was leaving with them that would be another matter entirely, but she didn’t think she needed to state that so bluntly just yet. Rey could probably pick up on that nuance.

In either case, Pia would lead them towards the dining hall. It wasn’t used often, admittedly, many of them taking their food at their leisure, but for events they did use it, or when announcements needed to be made. As such, it was still well-kept, the stone table now laden with silver dishware, and plenty of food. Veeka and burra fish were both cooked and offered on the table, along with a variety of funguses, and some more green and red, leafy, plants. There wasn’t much in the way of fruits, although the red drink was a fruit juice, at least.

There was some rice that Morgena had already put her burra fish over, while Ivan, now present, seemed to prefer the veeka and putting it over a white-sauced pasta, adding some of the cooked mushrooms to it.

Pia gestured, “You may eat what you like, however much you like – I tried to consider what dietary concerns I could think of,” mostly that not everyone liked fish, and that vegetarians existed in the galaxy. She fell into neither category. She didn’t know if she missed something with this group.

Chewbacca didn’t seem displeased, at any rate, clearly looking at the veeka as his preference. He did prefer birds to fish, though.

 

[Cory]

Octavia nodded. "Alright." Finding the source of the transmission was going to take a little longer, but again, it wasn't impossible. She had yet to find something that she actually found impossible to decrypt. With a datapad at her fingertips, she could do almost anything.

"That's weird too," Octavia admitted before shrugging. "Maybe it isn't that he doesn't want to be found. Maybe he just wants to make sure he's found by the right people." Still, Luke should have known that the Order was unlikely to ever give up their search for him. Octavia was actively helping them find him, but they weren't the only ones she was helping. She could only hope that the Resistance got to him first, based on what she found out.

Kylo decided to look up more on Ushruu so they'd have a better idea of what to expect, and Octavia left him to it, focusing on trying to figure out where the transmission came from.

Devaron didn't seem to be very populated, at least not the area around the temple, but she knew there were likely to be little colonies our outposts nearby with some people. There was a good chance that whoever transmitted this information was still around somewhere. Maybe they'd have more clues as to where on Ushruu the map could be found — if this wasn't, in fact, a red herring like Kylo suspected it to be.

It was taking a bit of time, so she glanced up at Kylo on between. "Find anything interesting?" She asked, nodding to his datapad.

~ * * * ~​

"Thank you." Rey was glad to have something to read up on by herself instead of needing to rely on Pia for all of her answers. The archives would likely be visited by her quite a bit over the next day.

She knew she also had to determine how long was too long, because not only did she not want to overstay her welcome, but she was needed elsewhere. Kylo Ren was still out there, and so was Luke Skywalker. Things were far from over.

The group of them walked away from the Archives and toward what Rey assumed was a dining hall. Chewie fell into step beside her, clearly eager for food. The sight of it all laid out made Rey more hungry, and she happily took a seat at the table before pausing to decide what she wanted to eat first.

Chewbacca wasn't bothered with waiting. The moment he sat down he reached for the veeka first, while Rey opted for the fish and some of the leafy greens. It was certainly more of a spread than she was used to compared to her life back on Jakku.

The first few bites were taken in silence, with both Chewie and Rey simply enjoying the fresh food. After that, Rey looked up at her newer — temporary — companions before speaking up. "So, what led you to Dathomir?" She asked curiously.

The question wasn't aimed toward anyone in particular. So far she'd only spoken properly to Pia, and while she wanted to learn more about the pink-haired woman, she was curious about the others as well.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo was browsing the data in peace, letting Octavia work. He thought that would be enough for now, so he was slightly annoyed to have an interruption when it was clear Octavia wasn’t finished with her own work. He wasn’t sure how attentive she had to be during some parts of it, so he wouldn’t make the assumption that she wasn’t working, but he still wondered to himself. Nonetheless, he answered.

“Not much,” he said, “It’s another forested planet,” which was just what they needed. “There used to be a cult to Vathyr, and a temple was built there in honor of Vathry in a chasm that opened up, likely where the vengeance is,” he used the term as if Octavia should know, again not considering her likely knowledge. “It’s where most temples end up.”

This was probably what Chewbacca had found, ages ago. “It seems to be inactive now,” from what little information the Order cared to collect. It hadn’t caused much of a stir, though they at least knew of it and had looked at it in the past, it seemed, on their hunt for Skywalker. Now he’d have to go back there personally and see what they missed.

General Hux would love that.

“If anything will be there, it’ll be in the temple.”

~***~

Everyone began to find their place, her own group sans Myrridan all finding food for themselves amongst the spread. It was more than usual, which Myrridan would be happy about later when he rotated back in. For now, Pia intended to enjoy what was there, also preferring the veeka to the fish. The fish was the more common food that they ate; she got tired of it.

Rey’s question came before Pia could consider giving a proper introduction, and she chuckled a bit at the looks that were cast her way, “Go on,” she encouraged, “You can use it as a way to introduce yourselves.” Which would make enough sense. Rey would have something to connect each of them with, after all.

Morgena began, “I was born here,” she brushed a few of her black strands of hair aside, revealing the horns more obviously on her head that marked her as dathomirian. “Not a Nightsister, but another clan. Not that it matters,” she bristled a bit, "all you Jedi seemed to look at us the same."

“Singing Mountain,” Vimue interrupted, adding, “I’m Vimue, she’s Morgena, we’re sisters. Our brother, Myrridan, is also here, just not with us right now. Sorry about her,” she tried, "we know the Jedi Order is gone, and you're not with them."

Ivan lifted his hand, to speak before that matter could be addressed, “We already met,” he said, “I’m an archeologist, actually, from Coruscant originally. I was researching the history of the Force and it led me here. Helps that I can also use it, I guess,” he shrugged lightly, “There was too much here to really pass up, so I’ve kind of…stayed…indefinitely.” A chuckle, “Oh, but, I keep getting grant money for my research, which is good,” he did send things back to Coruscant.

“I’m Felicity!” The other human introduced, waving at Rey from across the table, dark skin and dark hair setting her apart from Ivan’s paler features, “I touch things and I know their history! I kind of just started trying to trace my own history with the Force, and one thing after another led me here. I don’t have a history here,” she chuckled, “but it’s helped me get this nuisance power under control. It’s about all I can do.”

“It’s about all I can do,” Morgena repeated in a mocking voice. “You’re the only person who can do that, that we’ve ever met.”

Felicity gave a sheepish shrug. “It’s still more nuisance than anything.”

“Well I think it’s cool,” Cari said, the red twi’lek, “I’m Cari, by the way,” she introduced. “I…got lucky.” She said, glancing down a moment, “The people who…kidnapped me, had to stop here to repair their ship. I didn’t have anywhere to go back to, so I ended up staying here….”

Pia had dealt with those who had kidnapped her rather…quickly.

“Some people are still assholes in this galaxy,” Laksmi, the togruta, noted, “I’m Laksmi. I actually knew Pia before she came to Dathomir, and when she mentioned she was setting up a home here, I thought I’d help out. I’m a bit of a better pilot than her and can get supplies a lot easier with my contacts.” She gestured to Agna, “Actually brought her along, similar sad story to Cari, except her kidnappers wanted to experiment on her because she had the Force.”

Agna huffed, but didn’t actually speak. She was still bitter by it. “Imperial Remnants,” Laksmi said, “her name’s Agna. She doesn’t talk much. Not because she doesn’t like you. She just doesn’t like anyone.” The chuckle earned a wry side-eye from Agna, but still no words from the red-head.

 

[Cory]

Another forested planet. Octavia didn't really mind either way. It was still the longest she'd been out of a ship in a while, and aside from the fact that she had to navigate a crumbling temple and deal with several gaps in floors, it was a pleasant adventure.

Not counting the fact that her companion wasn't exactly chatty company, but he wasn't bad company either, and that admittedly surprised her.

She furrowed her eyebrows when Kylo mentioned a term she wasn't familiar with. "Vergence?" She echoed, looking back at the datapad. "What's a vergence?" If it was where most temples ended up, did it mean they were at one right now? She looked down at the floor as if there was some way to tell, but ultimately shook her head and got back to work while she waited for an explanation from Kylo.

As she did, Octavia thought about the new information they were working with. A Jedi temple had given them coordinates, and if it was actually helpful, then it made sense that something important would be stored at... yet another Jedi temple. Octavia had never met Luke so there was no way for her to know how his mind was working or what these places meant, if anything.

Kylo would know though. Much more than her, at least.

"Okay, got it." The trace was complete, and the source wasn't quite far, as she'd expected. "There's a settlement nearby. Whoever's transmitted this information is there." If Luke had visited Devaron a couple of times before, it was possible that he had a remaining ally or two. How they could possibly know about the map was a mystery to her, but then again, she'd always wondered how Lor San Tekka got his hands on it as well.

"We can go there, figure out if the coordinates actually mean something, and then get to Ushruu once we find out that they do." Blind faith in her position wasn't a good thing, but she just had a strong feeling about it.

~ * * * ~​

Rey listened as, one by one, those sitting around her began to introduce themselves.

A woman who didn't yet identify herself went first. Her sister, Vimue, quickly solved that before Rey could think to ask for a name, though shortly after that, she began to worry about offending Morgena, despite not having actually done anything.

She opened her mouth to speak, to explain that she wasn't actually a Jedi, but once again, Vimue came to her aid and offered an explanation that made sense. Well, not so much an explanation as it was an attempt to ease her worries, but Rey appreciated it all the same.

Ivan, whom she'd already met, went next, and her smile widened a bit at his introduction. It quickly became clear that all them that had found themselves on Dathomir at some point and ultimately decided to stay were Force users, in some way or the other. It made Rey wonder if that was true for all of those who lived here. It would make sense if that was the truth. As Pia explained earlier, Dathomir did possess a very powerful energy.

They were all a breath of fresh air from the kinds of people she interacted with on Jakku, especially Felicity whose energy seemed to rival that of Rey's when she stepped foot into the Archives. Agna's silence would have made her worry if she hadn't quickly gotten an explanation for it. The idea of people being experimented on simply for being able to use the Force sounded barbaric, and it was hard to even imagine.

Realising she'd been focusing more on the people and their introductions than eating, Rey allowed herself another mouthful of food before she addressed them all again. "It's a pleasure to meet you all," she said, offering a smile. "It's nice to hear that you all were able to find a place you can call home." Even if the road was a bit more rough for some, than others.

None of them were Jedi. Neither was Rey. Which meant that none of them went through the training a Jedi normally would have. It gave Rey more questions, since she found herself in a similar position. Only, she wasn't here to stay.

"Did you all learn how to use the Force on your own?" She asked curiously, leaning back a bit. "Or did you all sort of... help each other?" She knew Pia had a master. She'd mentioned it briefly. Rey didn't know if that applied to all of them, though.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo was surprised to hear that a settlement, and not some place in the temple, was transmitting the information. His brows lifted, and he pushed away from the wall, turning his own datapad off for the moment, “Yes, let’s investigate that a bit further,” he agreed. Perhaps it was someone Luke spoke to.

Or perhaps it would just be an abandoned village with nothing useful at all other than the transmission.

Either way, they couldn’t let this pass them by when there was an opportunity for further answers. He needed to make sure of everything before they left Devaron for Ushruu, and his eagerness to do so was obvious as he stepped away from the console and towards the exit of the room.

He didn’t go ahead immediately, but would wait for Octavia to get everything disconnected and prepared to move on, “I’ll take us out of the temple, and then you can lead the way to the transmission,” it seemed best. He wouldn’t be far behind, and he’d stay attuned to what was going to happen.

Not forgetting her earlier inquiry, her circled back, “And a vengeance is simply a powerful thing in the Force; the Jedi temple in Coruscant was built over one,” as if that should explain it away. It was more detailed than that, but he didn’t think Octavia needed to know, or cared to know, that much detail on matters she couldn’t understand by experiencing it herself.

~***~

“Mmmm,” Felicity hummed her agreement with Rey’s sentiment. Having a home, a family, definitely made things better, and she was glad to have stumbled upon it in her own way. They all were, really. It wasn’t traditional, but it was home. It was family. “Welllllll,” Felicity dragged it out, “I kind of didn’t have a choice. I touched things, I saw their history. I had to figure out to at least wear gloves and cover up a lot,” she chuckled, “I’ve gotten better thanks to Pia at not automatically, um…well it’s hard to explain, but you know how when you touch an ice cube, and you feel that it’s cold, but you also feel that coldness spreading up your finger? I feel that with things, except it’s the Force. I draw it up just automatically, so I’ve learned how to not do that a bit better. I still prefer to wear gloves,” and she flashed her black ones up, “My parents didn’t really know what to do with me. It was…it was kinda bad.” A nervous chuckle, and she looked down.

Bad as in terrible, really.

Bad as in she was an unwanted burden, but Rey didn’t need to hear about that, and she quickly looked back up with a smile, “It’s better now.”

“We were lucky enough to have a family that knew about the Force,” Vimue noted.

“Before they were killed.”

“Before they were killed,” Vimue echoed Morgena’s bitterness, “Not by Jedi, but the dying Empire. Still, some of our village survived, and we banded together what knowledge we could. Dathomir isn’t heavily populated to begin with, I think even the Alderaan space station has more people than us, thanks to the Empire,” she sighed, “but we were getting better, and when Pia showed up and started to make a community, we decided we’d help out. Senator Velroz told us about it – she was another of our clan.”

“Dead, now.”

“Thanks to the Order,” Vimue wanted to keep blame away from Jedi. “We’re, uh…we haven’t decided what to do about that. Dathomir hasn’t elected anyone new, yet.” Though her eyes flickered to Pia.

Pia remained silent.

“It’s for later,” Ivan said, though he was met with a glare from Morgena for speaking up, “Most of us, Rey, didn’t have any direction with the Force. There were no teachers, no one to help us, we just stumbled along until we found this place,” Cari nodded along, “The Jedi unfortunately hid everything they knew, and beat down anyone else who used the Force, banned their teachings, called them heretics – all sorts of things,” he waved dismissively, “so that left lots of us amiss and directionless, sometimes even unaware until something triggered the Force in us, that we had that kind of power. It’s a story you’ll hear all across the galaxy. There’s a lot of orphans abandoned by their parents because they didn’t know how to deal with it. Of course, hard to blame them,” a rueful laugh.

“Yeah…when you’re throwing wooden cubes through walls when they’re feeling angry or sad, it’s hard to discipline a child!” Felicity could at least mock her own experiences.

"Coming here, really has helped us. We've been able to pool knowledge and resources," Laksmi concluded.

 

[Cory]

Kylo wasted no time moving toward the door once they had some information regarding the source so Octavia worked on unplugging wires from the computer in the room and ensuring that whatever she’d decrypted remained only in her datapad. That way she could control what happened to it.

Octavia turned to find Kylo still waiting for her so she put the datapad away for the time being and followed him out if the room, nodding when he made a set of instructions clear.

Octavia also got further explanation about what a vergence was, which she appreciated. It was a brief, summaries version, but enough for her to get a vague understanding. She didn’t think she’d get much more than that unless she was Force sensitive and able to tell what a vergence was simply by feeling it.

“It doesn’t seem like the settlement’s very far,” Octavia mentioned, stepping out of the room and into the hallway. She just wondered if it was abandoned or not. Some confirmation would admittedly be better before leaving for Ushruu but it seemed like a strong lead to her anyway so abandoned or not, their next stop was likely going to be to the coordinates they now had.

“Are there stairs leading out of here?” She asked, glancing around her as she recalled that they’d gotten down only by jumping through a hole in the floor.

~ * * * ~​

Rey got the feeling that Felicity was sugar coating it when she said that things had gotten bad for her. On one hand, it seemed like a curious thing to simply be able to touch something and learn so much in a matter of seconds or minutes, but she could see how that could become a nuisance after a time, if it continued to happen at times when she didn’t want it to. Or if she learned things she didn’t want to.

As Vimue and Morgena added on to what Felicity said and introduced a new name she didn’t recognise — followed by the name of an organisation she did recognise — Rey was reminded of the fact that there was still a war going on outside of this plant.

One that needed her. One she needed to return to eventually because the Order wasn’t going to give up, and Rey couldn’t stand by and let them win. Dathomir, as nice as it was turning out to be — and as tempting as it was to stay — was merely a stop along the way. An opportunity to learn before hopefully putting what she’d learned to use.

Rey focused back on the conversation when Ivan spoke. She smiled a bit and nodded when Laksmi concluded that coming here had helped them all, and it was nice to see that among them all.

She couldn’t help the fact that her expression fell once Ivan mentioned orphans being abandoned by their parents but that wasn’t something Rey yet felt comfortable diving into, so she tried to hide it with another smile before taking one last bite of her food.

“Well then I’m glad you all have this place,” she said, looking back up once her food was done. “I’ll admit, it’s a lot nicer than I expected it to be when I landed,” she added with a soft chuckle. Rey had more questions, but decided that for now, she’d keep them to herself. Maybe she’d get a few moments with Pia later, or perhaps she’d find what she was looking for in the journal she’d borrowed.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Good.’ They wouldn’t need to fly over the settlement if it wasn’t far, they could just walk to it. That meant they wouldn’t draw too much attention before they actually arrived, unless the settlement already knew people were at the temple. Kylo wasn’t sure what the odds of that were, but he was hoping they were slim. He was hoping they would find a way to it.

He arched a brow at her query about stairs, “I’m sure there’s a set, or debris you can climb up,” if it came to it, he could lift her using the Force and jump up himself, but he suspected neither of them really wanted that option.

Thankfully, it wouldn’t come to that, either.

There was a set of stairs, mostly intact, but with some debris, rubble, and holes in them. They were stone, though, so they were unlikely to break any further due to anyone’s body weight. Kylo didn’t bother suggesting an alternative, but strode up them, coming out back near the main courtyard of the temple. If it could hold him, it’d certainly be able to hold Octavia on her trek upwards.

Nonetheless, he didn’t go far, and he would watch to make sure her ascent was without perils.

~***~

Laksmi was the first to laugh at Rey’s statement about Dathomir, though there were a few other chuckles from those at the table, “Dathomir is no Chandrila, but it works. If you haven’t seen Chandrila before, you need to make your way out there,” she waved her fork a bit as she suggested it, “It’s gorgeous,” she let out a dreamy sigh.

She liked visiting Chandrila.

Pia let a wry smile touch her lips, “It’s nice,” she agreed, “but too hot.”

“Not all of us can survive on Hoth in a sun dress, Pia,” Felicity said pointedly, “You think Dathomir is too hot.”

“Well, it is.” Pia shrugged.

“She’d die on Tatooine,” Laskmi said, head tilted towards Rey as if sharing some grand secret, and not speaking to an entire table of people. “But anyways, a lot of Dathomir really isn’t as nice as this. We’ve done a lot to make this area nice, but this planet is still vicious.”

Chewbacca mentioned one thing he knew, besides the witches, and Laksmi nodded enthusiastically, “That’s right, rancor come from this planet, and they are mean.” They’d all be willing to carry on plenty of conversation with Rey through the meal, light enough for now, knowing getting too serious would be to no one’s interest, but person by person, they would eventually all start to drift away to their own tasks after sharing the meal with Rey.

 

[Cory]

Sure enough, they soon came across a set of stairs that seemed decent enough to climb. Octavia let Kylo go first, watching his movements and remembering where he stepped so she could follow in his footsteps, quite literally. It held his weight well enough, so it would definitely hold hers.

"I really wonder why anyone would bother coming here at all, of all places," she muttered under her breath as she neared the stairs. Once he was at the top, Octavia began her ascent, being careful of where she stepped and doing her best not to hold onto anything in case it gave her a false sense of support and she went tumbling back down. They were getting closer to finding the map. The last thing she wanted was to slow that down with an injury.

She briefly considered letting the Resistance know what she found so far, but ultimately decided against it. If they sent someone to Ushruu, it could quickly turn around on her. Kylo was smart enough to put two and two together. Once they got there and actually found the map, then she'd reach out to the Resistance, with more concrete information. No point risking her position in the Order — or her life — for something that was still not confirmed.

Octavia made it to the top without much trouble, coming close letting her foot fall through a hole in the stone steps only once. Once she was on stable ground, she felt much better. It was somehow more comforting to wander through a jungle than to roam around in a crumbling temple. At least she wouldn't worry about falling down two storeys.

Pulling her datapad back out again, Octavia determined which direction they should be heading. "It's that way," she told Kylo, nodding toward a dense thicket in the distance before she began to move toward it.

~ * * * ~​

"I haven't," Rey answered when Laksmi brought up Chandrila. "But I hope to, eventually." There were a lot of places she was now curious about. Finding the will to leave Jakku behind had been the first step. Now that she was far away, she wanted to visit as many places as she could. And she almost would have had that opportunity with Chewie and Han...

She could only laugh when Pia brought up the fact that it was hot, and chose not to bring up the weather on Jakku, which she'd been used to for years now. Dathomir's temperature was quite pleasant in comparison.

Laksmi's words regarding the rest of Dathomir made Rey more curious though. Despite making it sound like there were places on the planet Rey shouldn't explore, she felt the need to. She wanted to see what else was out there beyond what she'd seen so far. There were likely good reasons the rest of them didn't venture too far away from what they'd created, and Rey kept that in mind even if the idea of exploring continued to nag at her.

One by one, people began to leave the table as they finished up their food. Chewie went to take another helping of what was left, less concerned about depriving someone else of food once they were almost all gone. Rey had eaten till she was full and felt satisfied, washing it down with the juice that had been provided. All in all, a much better visit than she'd expected. Even if she didn't find Luke, Rey had admittedly expected some hostility. Dathomir gave off that kind of vibe from afar.

She glanced at Pia, who was one of the only remaining ones left at the table. "Thank you again for dinner. It was great." She briefly looked to Chewie with a smile, noting that he was devouring some more veeka. "I think it's safe to say Chewie enjoyed it as well," she added with a chuckle.

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo could have offered a few answers to Octavia’s muttered question, but he chose to pretend he didn’t hear it. It didn’t seem like it was meant as an actual question, anyways. ‘Scavengers.’ It was his first thought, and one that carried with it a spike of anger as he recalled the girl from Jakku who had succeeded in escaping him, and taking the map to Luke with her. It was certainly her type that would love to pick through a place like this.

It was a miracle there was as much wreckage left, anyways. He was sure the metal from the computers would at least be worth a few credits, when melted down. It wasn’t as if Devaron had much in the way of wildlife that was a great threat, either.

Still, he let that go, and when Octavia motioned to where they should head, he would follow after her, trying to think if he recalled visiting any civilization on Devaron before. He didn’t really think that he had, which seemed a bit strange to him. Luke had often worked with and spoken to plenty of other cultures and peoples, Devaron didn’t seem like it ought to be an exception.

‘Maybe you’re just forgetting.’

Always possible. There were plenty of things he would have preferred to forget, though.

“What do you know of the Jedi?” He found himself asking as they walked, “Of the Force?” He wasn’t always certain what others of the Order were told, and what they weren’t, any more.

~***~

Rey and Chewbacca both seemed fairly satisfied as the others began to leave, Chewie in particular eating to his heart’s content. There would still be plenty of food for Myrridan when he caught up with this, which Pia knew would be soon. Morgena ought to be going to replace him on watch now.

“You’re welcome,” Pia said, smiling as Chewbacca added his own gratitude. She didn’t understand it, but she got the gist of it well enough. “If you’d like to stay here tonight, we do have rooms available, and I’m assuming you do since you’re borrowing a book,” Pia chuckled.

She wasn’t letting that return to the Falcon with Rey, no matter how trustworthy she might seem. Pia knew better than to trust any old pretty face that came through here, even those that radiated with the light of the Force. Light hardly made them good people. “I can show you to where those are, and nearby facilities.”

Some ships had good refreshers, but not all of them, and she wasn’t sure which list the Falcon fell under, the notorious trash ship that survived an entire war. There had to be more to it than met the eye.

Chewbacca nodded. Even if he’d, admittedly, rather go back to his room on the Falcon, he didn’t want to leave Rey behind in a strange new place, so he’d tough out sleeping here if he needed to do so.

 

[Cory]

Octavia wasn't expecting Kylo's question.

Truthfully, she expected silence to surround them till they reached the settlement, save for whatever crunched underneath the weight of their feet. Not that she wouldn't have tried to speak up again at some point or the other. Silence didn't bother her, but curiosity did. It always had.

"I know the Force can't be used by everybody," she answered, looking over at him briefly before she continued to focus on where she was going, so as to avoid tripping over the vines in their path. "And I know that those who can use it are capable of doing some amazing things." And some less amazing things. Mind tricks, choking... those were parts of it she didn't like. Though, she supposed that wasn't a fault of the Force. Just the people who used it.

"Of the Jedi, I know stories," Octavia continued, shrugging a bit. "Mostly what I hear from other officers, either in passing or if I pose an inquiry. Whether all those stories have some truth to them or not, I'm not sure. People are hard to read." The minds of the officers had been conditioned to believe things the Order wanted them to believe. Octavia was supposed to be with them in that, but she was answering truthfully. She didn't know much about the Jedi, therefore she didn't know if they were truly good or bad. She could only know for sure what she'd experienced herself, and that was what led her to go against the Order.

In secret, of course.

"I've always found that it was easier to understand computers, than people," she explained. Maybe it didn't have all the answers she was looking for unless she knew where to look, but at least there was less of a chance of being fed lies. That was what she believed, anyway.

She looked at Kylo again as they continued to trek forward. "Can you tell me about the Jedi?" He was a more accurate source than any officer or trooper, in her opinion.

~ * * * ~​

Rey was pleased by the offer to stay in a room provided them, and she was more than happy to agree to it, though she did take a moment to look at Chewie before she gave Pia her answer. As much as she wanted to learn, she also didn't want to make Chewie feel too uncomfortable.

If he felt safer camping out in the Falcon, then she would accompany him instead of leave him alone. The tone of Pia's voice already made it clear that taking a book from the Archive too far away wasn't an option that she welcomed, and Rey could understand that much. She didn't want to take advantage of the kindness that had been extended to them. She could always just come back tomorrow morning and spend some time in the Archives to catch up on what she could have read at night.

Chewie nodded at Pia's offer, however, picking up on the fact that Rey wanted to stay and learn some more. They weren't staying for too long, so every bit of time that they could spare on Dathomir counted. That would be made easier by staying in a room there, rather than traveling back to stay in the ship they came here on.

Smile widening, Rey turned back to Pia and nodded her head. "A room for the night sounds perfect," she answered her. "I'd like to see how much of this I can finish by morning," Rey explained with a small chuckle, patting the book before she rose to her feet.

Chewie was finished eating as well, and he seemed quite full and satisfied. The urge to sleep after a meal like that was strong — but not stronger than Rey's desire to learn.

"Do you get a lot of visitors passing through?" Rey asked curiously as she waited for Pia to rise and lead the way. Dathomir's population was small, she knew that much, but so far all of the people she'd met who came here some way or the other had chosen to stay.

 

[Lucyfer]

Octavia’s first statement was probably the most obvious to them both in that moment. Kylo recalled early in life, when he’d thought it was something everyone could use, but he’d learned fairly quick it wasn’t. It made him special. And then he learned the origins of the name Ben and all of his mother’s ridiculously high hopes for him, and how special he truly was – without ever mentioning Vader or any of that, of course. Just Luke.

The thought of Octavia posing an inquiry into the Jedi wasn’t surprising, though it would have been for other officers. Most weren’t as curious as her. He was already picking up that difference; most kept to themselves, as well. There were too many risks in being known to others, after all. Octavia didn’t seem to think that way.

He scoffed with some slight humor at her comment about computers being easier to understand than people. Given he couldn’t crack open a computer the way Octavia could, he’d have to disagree. He found computers far more infuriating, but then again – Octavia couldn’t crack open people like he could, either, so it made sense. Not that he liked people better than computers. Generally speaking, he preferred droids to people.

“I could.”

His answer left plenty to be desired without elaboration. It wasn’t as if he knew where to begin, besides, “The Jedi were hypocrites who thought they were better than the rest of the galaxy,” that was the main takeaway, and he knew he wasn’t saying much. He shook his head, “There’s a lot of information about them. It’s better that they’re gone, though.” Thanks to him.

~***~

‘If you’re a fast enough reader, it shouldn’t take you all night.’ Pia wouldn’t say that, though, lest she inadvertently insult Rey by suggesting it was a quick read. Not everyone read as quickly, or comprehended things as easily. Some people had to go back to things, or take actual notes, in order to grasp the material.

Pia had always just been able to retain what she read.

“Then I’ll show you to your quarters,” she said, and would indeed lead out, answering Rey’s query as they exited the dining hall, “More than you would expect,” not everyone stayed, of course, and Pia wouldn’t have wanted everyone to stay. Some were enemies, unaware of it though they may be.

She’d at least learned one thing: hiding in front of her enemies was a useful skill. It was not one her own Master had figured out, given her constant hiding. Pia knew she could likely walk amongst others and pass for anything but Sith. Nonetheless, she still wanted someone like Velroz to walk in front, all the same. Someone with more…legitimacy, until she had built something up.

Another reason she hesitated to take Velroz’s position.

“Not everyone stays here, but many have come through in their own search for information,” on the Force, on Dathomir itself, on the various clans, some just for botanical reasons. People were strange.

She took them both by the nearest refresher first, “In case you have need of it through the night, or even the day,” she said, the room clean, and with a rather large tub. There wasn’t much in the way of hygienic products, though – everyone kept their own to themselves, but it wouldn’t be hard for either to acquire such by asking, or returning to the Falcon to get some.

She’d intend to lead them to Chewie’s room afterwards, so he could separate from them, before she’d take Rey to her own quarters.

 

[Cory]

Kylo said he could tell her more about the Jedi, so she continued to look at him expectantly. What he said after that was somewhat expected.

For as long as she remained in the order, Octavia didn't think she'd hear much that was good about the Jedi. Certainly not from Kylo, at least. He'd taken extreme measures to make sure they no longer existed.

She supposed there was no right place to start talking about all of it. There was a lot of history to be learned about the Jedi and the powers of the Force, and they were about ten minutes away from reaching the settlement, so she didn't expect to learn much. But, as he said, the Jedi were gone now.

Not completely, she wanted to say. Not yet, at least. Luke Skywalker was still out there somewhere, but with how long he'd remained hidden, the Jedi really were as good as gone. She wasn't sure if that would change or not once they found Luke.

"What made you realise that?" She asked him when he mentioned the Jedi thinking they were better than the rest of the galaxy. They were strong words for someone who used to be among them.

Things changed, that much she was sure, though she never learned what had led to that change. She didn't know why he viewed the Jedi that way. Octavia realised that questioning his belief was as good as questioning the Order, but she was genuinely curious. A trait that few others insisted would be her downfall, but one she'd been stubbornly against changing about herself, regardless.

~ * * * ~​

Rey clutched the journal she'd borrowed from the archives tightly to her chest as she followed Pia out of the dining hall, with Chewbacca not far behind.

She nodded at the answer she was given to her question, though Rey was admittedly surprised to hear about Dathomir receiving more visitors than she initially thought. It made her wonder how many other planets like Dathomir were out there, and it made her even more eager to explore.

She and Chewie were shown the refresher, which Rey kept in mind for later. Following that, they stopped by at Chewie's room first, where Rey bid him goodnight. He was quick to offer the same to both her and Pia, and once Rey translated the words that likely needed no translation given what they were in response to, she followed behind the pink-haired woman to her own room.

With them alone, Rey considered asking another question that had popped into her mind during dinner.

Well, it was more of a lingering thought than it was a question, but since she was a guest here she thought it was probably better to ask before she stumbled onto things that didn't concern her.

"Earlier, Laksmi said that there were parts of Dathomir that could be vicious," she brought up, glancing over at Pia as she fell into step beside her. "Just how vicious exactly is it?" And was it the entire planet, aside from the places that had been colonised like where they were now? Surely it couldn't be, or it wouldn't have been inhabitable at all. It did make her curious about what else was out there, though.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘When your own uncle tries to kill you for having a little bit of darkness in you, after he talks about how Darth Vader was redeemed, you start to have doubts.’ Kylo didn’t say that, throat tight against such flippant words. As tight as his fists became as they walked. What could he say for it?

“The Jedi teach things they do not understand. They stand at a distance from what they teach,” he said, knowing that wasn’t really enough, so he considered the propaganda posters he saw in the Order and how often he’d rolled his eyes at them. “I’m sure you’re familiar with some of the propaganda posters the First Order has that seem…insincere.”

It was not the best way to speak of such things, as it implied a deficient in the Order, and an insincerity to what they said. “I’m sure they mean it, but there’s still something hollow in their promises and motivational words. No one in the Order has ever actually lived in the Outer Rim or experienced pirates, taxation, poverty, or hunger. They have good intentions to improve the galaxy, but they don’t have the experience to know what they’re dealing with.”

Realizing he was probably being a little too critical, he added, “We’ll work on filling in those holes later, I know we’ll be working more closely with the planets and planetary leaders in the future, but right now, the room for improvement is there. The Jedi weren’t interested in improving. They thought they knew everything, and were utterly flawless.”

Because it was Luke Skywalker, the legend who saved the galaxy. How could he ever be wrong?

~***~

Rey remained inquisitive.

It wasn’t a bad trait, and Pia didn’t mind it, though it had come so quickly on leaving Chewbacca that she was not able to ask a query of her own. No matter, she knew she would get to it, it wasn’t as though she’d soon forget to ask why Rey had chosen that journal over all the others in the archives.

“Dathomir can be dangerous, but so can every planet,” Pia didn’t really think it was that bad, “The rancor are a notorious threat across the galaxy, and Dathomir has them in large numbers. I do not know if you are familiar with the rancor, they stand over 15 feet, and are semi-sentient creatures who have hides that can withstand blaster fire, and an appetite for meat.”

Yet, she chuckled, adding, “They’re actually rather benign and intelligent enough to recognize faces. But they have a reputation due to how they look, and how they’ve been trafficked. Some will attack any humanoid on sight because they’ve learned most mean them harm. It’s unfortunate.”

“There are a few other carnivorous species, some places where the Force will act against you, and a rather large array of poisonous plants, but Dathomir isn’t too bad. Why? Are you considering trekking across it?” She wasn’t opposed.

 

[Cory]

Kylo's words initially didn't make much sense to her. She didn't know a lot about the Jedi, nor did she know what they taught except for the fact that it aligned with the Force somehow. When he continued though, bringing up the propaganda posters, Octavia nodded.

She'd seen them. As much as she would have liked to keep space in her mind for more useful things, the images were burned into her head. Perhaps it was a gift to read or see something and never be able to forget it, but more than once it had proved to be a bit of a nuisance.

The fact that Kylo first referred to the Order as they, only later bringing himself into it by mentioning we, didn't go noticed by Octavia. It was one thing she didn't question aloud, though. Instead she focused on what he said of the Jedi. Judging by how he phrased it, the Jedi certainly had their flaws. But she certainly wasn't inclined to think the Order was somehow better.

Once again, it was not something she said aloud.

There were several things she could have asked in that moment, though each and every one of them would lead to Kylo sensing the truth of her allegiance. Nobody within the Order questioned the working of it. They followed along and continued to carry out the work given to them. But to know that Kylo wasn't blindly following offered just the slightest bit of comfort, in a weird way.

"I'd like to see an improvement in the galaxy," Octavia stated, glancing down at the datapad briefly to make sure they were heading in the right direction. "I think there's still a long way to go." Change didn't happen over night, and she certainly didn't want to see the First Order at the head of it all. "Then again, I haven't experienced much of the galaxy to truly know what I'd like right now." Ideally? The freedom of choice. Though that had been taken away from her a long time ago, and her own name reminded her of it each day.

~ * * * ~​

Rey nodded as Pia gave her explanation of the planet. She'd vaguely heard about Rancor from Chewie, though she didn't really know much about them, and she certainly had never encountered them before.

"Trafficked?" That came as a bit of a surprise, since she didn't know why that would happen. It was sad to think that they'd lost any semblance of trust in most people because of how much they'd been through. Rey could understand the need to be defensive.

Pia seemed to guess where she was going with her inquiry into Dathomir's landscape and how safe the rest of it was, though Rey had never been trying to hide that. She hadn't intended on exploring without first letting Pia know about it. After all, this wasn't her home, and she didn't want to take liberties when those she'd met so far had been nothing but kind toward both her and Chewbacca.

"I did plan to," Rey answered with a slow nod and a smile. "The idea of exploring new places has always appealed to me, despite not having been to many new places. When the opportunity presents itself, I like to see what places have to offer." She'd always been fuelled by curiosity, and the eagerness to learn more, regardless of what she was learning about.

Dathomir's strong connection to the Force was all the more reason to explore.

"I don't think I'd travel too far," Rey added. "But I am interested in seeing what else Dathomir has to offer."

 

[Lucyfer]

Kylo had to hope that most people would want positive change. He knew it wasn’t the case, having seen the corruption of the senate first-hand alongside his mother, but he knew there were people who wanted better. Unfortunately, they were usually inept, or easy to corrupt. The First Order had certainly touched many and gotten them to go against what would be in the best interest of the New Republic.

When the Order took power, things would get better, just as it had under the Empire. Given more time than the Empire had, the Order would improve upon things, immensely.

Kylo had to believe that.

He saw what things the Empire had done right, where other people were unwilling to even consider they’d done anything right. “You’ll get a chance to experience it, soon.” Now that the First Order was actually able to begin to move into the galaxy, and begin the work, given the Resistance remained on the run and in hiding. The Order could use their visual absence to take over, and begin creating a new governmental system.

They’d start in the Core, of course, and work out from there.

It wouldn’t be long before they had the entire galaxy within their reign.

~***~

“Mmmm,” it was a sorrowful agreement to the trafficked query. People liked to train rancor and use them in many ways, be it as guards, or as competitors in coliseum-esque tournaments. The fact those things still occurred was another blemish on the New Republic’s effective rule of the galaxy. There were still a lot of terrible atrocities going on out there. Of course, things didn’t get fixed overnight.

These things happened under the Empire, as well.

“You can travel the entire planet if you like,” Pia chuckled, sensing Rey’s hesitation as she clarified that she wouldn’t travel too far, “Just do be on your guard. The creatures and plants aren’t really the most dangerous parts of Dathomir.” The undead were, and so was the Force itself, when it felt like testing anyone.

Pia had found that usually only occurred in a few places, but she didn’t plan to mention them. It was meant as a test, after all. Rey would pass or fail if she haplessly stumbled upon them, the way Pia had. Rey might have a bit of a harder time with it; they weren’t exactly tests for Jedi, after all.

Not that Rey claimed that moniker yet.

They reached the door to Rey’s room, and Pia gestured inside, “I hope it’s to your liking,” at least it was a bed and not a floor, she supposed, “I did have a question,” Pia said, glancing down at the journal, “Why that book, of all?”

 

[Cory]

Octavia could only hum in agreement. She was already living a lie. She didn't want to add to those lies. Agreeing with Kylo about the Order's plans for the galaxy would be a lie because she didn't believe they'd improve the planet. They may think that was what they were doing, but she didn't want to continue to be led by people who thought it was okay to take children from their homes and slaughter innocents.

If the Order had their way in the end, they'd certainly make changes. She had no doubt about that. Those just weren't the kinds of changes she wanted to see, or be a part of. If they were, she wouldn't have made the decision to help the Resistance.

Octavia took care to step over a particularly thick vine. They were surrounded by dense greenery on almost all sides but she could begin to see through little gaps ahead and what looked like a settlement. Or the remnants of one. They still weren't close enough to tell, but they were almost there, and they had the element of surprise if people were still there. At least, she was hoping they did. It'd be less messier that way.

As they continued onward, she thought back to an earlier conversation, as well as something that had gone unanswered. Something she didn't think to bring up then, but thought to bring up now since they had time to kill on their walk toward the settlement anyway. It wasn't like she was wasting time by asking.

"I know it was a stupid question, but you didn't answer me earlier," Octavia pointed out gingerly, keeping her eyes ahead of her. "About the smiling thing," she clarified a moment later.

~ * * * ~​

"No wonder they're wary of anyone who comes near them." Rey didn't blame them. She believed there were several such species that were misunderstood as a result. For solely trying to defend themselves, given their history, they were seen as vicious monsters.

She nodded, however, when Pia cautioned her about her idea to explore the planet. It was a welcome thought, but she needed to proceed with some degree of hesitancy instead of just going wherever she pleased and assuming nothing would go wrong. Rey gathered that much before they spoke, but now that she had a better idea of what she'd come across, she'd be more on guard.

The thought of asking Pia whether or not she'd be busy during the day led to Rey almost asking the question aloud, though before she had the chance, Pia took the opportunity to ask a question instead — it was only fair, given how much Rey felt like she'd eaten her brain since she'd arrived, asking question after question.

A small smile graced her lips and she looked down at the book in her hands. "I didn't get a chance to look at it much, but from what I gathered, it had information about the Jedi." She knew the Archives had a lot of Force related material, and that it wasn't limited solely to Jedi since it was clear to her now that it wasn't just Jedi who could use the Force.

"Ever since I learned what I could do, I've always been curious about it. I'm curious about a lot of other things as well, but this seemed like a decent place to begin, considering the fact that I don't know much. Or... hardly anything at all, for that matter." A journal that detailed stories and gave some information. Maybe not all of it could be relied on, but she wanted to go through it anyway. Tomorrow she could check out another book or two that explored different narratives.

Setting the book down at the foot of the bed in her room, Rey turned around and pulled her staff off of her bag before setting that against the wall. "The room is perfect, by the way. Thank you." She turned to meet Pia's gaze, thinking back to her question from earlier. "Do your days keep you very busy?"