riverviewlogs | bah humbug [open]

Entry tags:

bah humbug [open]

who: Kylo Ren & OPEN
what: General catch-all for settling in. MORE SPECIFIC PROMPTS WILL BE ADDED LATER, but in the meantime, enjoy a totally broad, generic starter.
when: December
where: Places
warnings: None yet.

i. generic walking around doing things starter
It's fitting, he supposes, that he should arrive while it's winter on this moon. Though it's a small detail, and ultimately insignificant, as-- other than the snow-- this place has little in common with Starkiller Base.

There's no sense of order in this city. It's loud and the streets are bustling with activity, much of it lacking purpose. Still, Ren needs to get a lay of the land to fully assess his situation here. And besides: he's in need of some essentials, like... food. And clothes.

(Thanks to recent events with the scavenger, his own clothing was deemed damaged and tossed out while he was receiving medical care at the hospital here. Now he's down his one-and-only outfit and has some new scars to show it.)

So yeah there's a very tall, very gloomy-looking man making his way through the city, trying to find clothes in the right shade of black to match his #aesthetic, trying to figure out how to pick the right produce at the supermarket (it's not as if he had to shop for food with the First Order), and who knows, maybe trying various teas and coffee ~~(caf, you plebs)~~ while intimidating teen baristas with his quiet intensity.

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[ Ren's gaze flickers over to the lightsaber on her belt, though his face doesn't betray how much it still burns to see it in anyone's possession but his own. By all rights (except, perhaps, the rules of FINDERS, KEEPERS), that lighstaber's his. It's his birthright, as the grandson of Darth Vader, the only one truly committed to his great legacy. And yet... There it is, on Rey's hip, as if it couldn't possibly belong to anyone else.

Ren shrugs one shoulder. ]

You're right. [ He shouldn't have been surprised by her skill. He starts to walk closer. ] Underestimating you was a mistake on my part. [ And, look, he really tries to say that with minimal amounts of resentment! ] I was distracted the last time we met.

[ Freshly wounded and still reeling from severing those final strings that kept pulling him back to the Light. It was supposed to be a moment of triumph, but even now, it eludes him.

And, to answer her question: ] Displaced. The same as you.

Edited 2017-12-14 15:48 (UTC)

[Barely anyone knows of what she keeps with her at all times, just in case it's needed, and like hell she would lose it. She could feel it, his anger. That needling feeling of betrayal. He doesn't know the lightsaber called to her, it gave her a vision and scared the shit out of her. But...it was her first steps. It brought her closer to the Force, and Kylo Ren released the flood gates in her by probing her mind.

She's trying to keep her mind clear, to not let any thoughts of her friends race through. He doesn't need to know Finn and Poe are here, unless he knows already. She's really hoping that wasn't the case.

He moves closer, but she stays still. She will not retreat like some scared mouse. If he comes closer to her, she not hesitate to draw out her lightsaber.]

Distracted or feeling guilt for what you did?

[Sarcasm and anger lace her words, her eyes narrowing slightly. He killed her friend. The lone father figure she had. She hurt his mother-- how could he do such a thing? No, no, she must stay calm. She cannot be blinded by her anger towards him.

'I wasn't displaced,' nearly leaves her lips, but Rey forces the words back. He doesn't need to know there was a mistake, he could use that to his advantage, possibly try to draw more First Order members here.]

So you can feel other things aside from than rage, hatred, and a need for power. [More sarcasm, keeping her anger and feelings in check. There's a pause from her, studying his face, noting the scar she left him...he gave her no choice. And really, she could've killed him, but held back.]

If you have any intention of harming anyone here, I will stop you. [Make it known already that she'll be watching him, making sure he doesn't even take one step out of line, or raise his hand to strike someone.]

Why should I feel guilt? I only did what was necessary.

[ No, there's no guilt there. Not yet, anyway. The full weight of his actions still haven't quite sunk in yet. But there is something there, a seed of... dissatisfaction inside. Killing his father was supposed to bring clarity, strengthen his resolve, and satisfy the angry, hurt child he still denies ever having been.

But so far, it's brought him nothing. ]

I feel many things. [ That had always been his problem, the thing that made him weak. He felt too much, too strongly, too uncontrollably. Ben Solo would have been a terrible Jedi. ] You're the one who insists there's nothing more to me than a monster.

[ And he could say he has no intention of harming anyone, but that would be a lie. At the moment, no, he has no definite plans; his interests lie more in departing from this place, finding his way back to the Supreme Leader for guidance. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't hurt the traitor or the pilot-- or anyone else-- if it became necessary. Instead, he changes the course of the conversation, away from the others, because they're insignificant, anyway.

He walks to her... and then past her, looking in the direction of the wall and what lies beyond it. ]

It defies words, doesn't it? When you truly begin to embrace the Force.

[I only did what was necessary. The words add to her anger and leave a bitter taste in her mouth. He didn't have to do anything! He had the love of his father, his mother! People who cared about him! Did he know how many people would die for that?]

You killed a man who loved you. Who wanted you to come home. [Spoken in an icy tone. He had everything and yet he wanted to follow a ghost. He wanted to follow down the path of death and destruction...

But there is more to him than that. Otherwise, Leia and Han would've given up on him. Why else would Han risk everything to go back for his son?]

Because that's all you've shown to be! You killed Han! You blindly follow someone who lost everything! Is that what you want? To feel utter isolation and only have power to comfort you? [Rey's emotions swell up, wanting to demand answers from him. To know why he willingly threw everything away.

He comes closer...only to walk past her. What was his game? What was he trying to do? If you kill him now, the war would be over. That little thought creeps over the edges of her mind, but she shuts it down. No. It wasn't her place to kill him. He didn't deserve to die, nor should Leia have to grieve over the loss of two men.

It's been more than frustrating, really.]

It's different. [Is all she says. No need to tell him how she hasn't found a teacher, or had the chance to learn from Obi-Wan. Or for the past few days she's had sleepless nights.] Is this where you start to lecture me? Tell me all there is I need to know of the Force?

Edited 2017-12-14 18:29 (UTC)

[ The more she insists on talking about Han, the more the veneer of calm begins to slip away. But at first, Ren says nothing, just keeps his gaze-- hardened now-- fixed on nothing either of them can actually see.

He would begin his pitch now, stress the insight he could give her, but instead... Instead, he succumbs to emotion. He looks back at Rey, features twisted in anger, snarling: ]

Han Solo was the father you wished for. For how long? It couldn't have been much time. [ He turns to face her more fully. ] You don't know what kind of a father he really was!

[ A good father, in short bursts. But he could never sustain it, never stick around. All Ren had ever been to him-- to both of them-- was an afterthought.

And he's wasted too much breath on his parents as it is. He takes a breath, trying to regain his composure. ]

I couldn't teach you everything. There is so much more to the Force than just the Light or just the Dark. [ And that's something no other teacher would tell her, he imagines. It's always one or the other, Light or Dark. ]

Better than not having one!

[ Rey shouts back, a childish reply, and it reaffirmed what he saw in her mind, but it was the truth. She had only known him for a few hours and she felt close to him. The man even offered her a job on the Falcon. He was giving her the chance to leave Jakku and do something more. But she declined. She said no. He wasn’t her father, but he was Ren’s. ]

He went back for you—he didn’t just give up on you! [ Anger and frustration bubbles up within her. She had to take a deep breath, reign in her emotions. She didn’t want to give him more information to use against her. Han may not ha e been the best father but at least he still cared! At least he had been around.

But his statement is surprising. He isn’t just saying the Dark Side was the main path to power. What was he getting at?]

What do you mean?

[ It may be a childish, kneejerk retort from an orphan who coveted his parents, but Rey's words do give him pause, if only for a moment. Because she puts to words one thing he's been wrestling with: the fact that Han Solo came to him. Ren's quiet for a moment, turning each word over in his head, replaying those final moments with his father. He came to him, tried to appeal to him to come home, and Ren put his lightsaber through him because--

No. It was a test. That's all. A test, and Ren passed it. ]

He went back for you, not for me. [ That was the only reason his father went to Starkiller base at all. He'd have gone regardless of Ren's presence there. ]

The Force is... it's in everything. It is everything. Before birth and beyond death. Most will only teach you to fear the dark, or put your back to the light. I can show you both. Let you experience all that there is the Force can offer.

[ And then you'll choose the Dark Side willingly, once you see it for its strength and purpose. That's the fine print, the outcome he's banking on. ]

[ Ren’s words give Rey a moment to think. She had been surprised that Finn had come back for her. It struck a nerve deep down in her heart. That someone had come back for her, cared about her that much. Han was there perhaps for the same reason...but she had to believe he was there for his son. He was there to blow up the base, get her and him...]

Maybe it was both. [ She said softly, her anger having quieted down. Han had gone to plead to him, tried to bring him home and then his body was stabbed and he was falling down...never having said goodbye to Leia...

The way he talks about the Force reminds her of what Obi-Wan had said. The Force was all around them, it would always be there. Before life and after death, there was only the Force. And here he was, offering to be her teacher once more. ]

Then do what? Kill me when I least expect it? [ thats all she has to go off of. He killed Han, it would be easy for him to do the same. Not that she was considering his offer, but his words rang true. Obi-Wan was more about the Light, which did call to her...but so did the dark. ]

You haven’t done much to show you’re only loyal to Snoke or the Order. Not to anything or anyone else.

[ Maybe it was. He'll never admit it. Entertaining the thought is pointless.

What he will admit, however, is: ]

I don't want to kill you. [ An honest answer-- one of the only truly honest things he's said, to himself and to her, without any underlying caveat. ]

The First Order isn't here. Neither is the Resistance. [ Though he's sure, if the pilot were here right now, he'd say something inane about how the Resistance is anywhere its people are, but thankfully, he can't interject right now. ] And neither is Snoke. It's just us.

[ Not the first time he's said that. But at least this time he isn't brandishing a lightsaber at her. ]

Edited 2017-12-15 18:41 (UTC)

[ I don’t want to kill you. He wasn’t lying. Nothing in the Force screamed that it was false, but Rey wanted it to be. It would be so easy to put him in a box and treat him as a monster. To see him as nothing else, but she knew better. People were more complicated than that, but now she was wondering why he didn’t want to do it. Why he didn’t want to cut her down....

But the Resistance was here. Poe and Finn. As well as the Rebellion with Jyn and Cassian. ]

You don’t consider yourself part of the Order? [ Because he was a Force user or he didn’t agree with all the players involved?

But could she do it? Could she really train under him? No! Her mind was already shouting the word out for him to hear but...what other choice does she have? Trying to listen to The Force wasn’t really working. She needed to find her place in all of this. ]

I can’t train with someone I don’t trust. [ That’s a simple way of putting it. She doesn’t trust him, not a single damn reason. Especially what happened to Han. Or to Finn. ]

[ He can sense her struggle; she wants to see him one way, because it's easier to hate him if he's just a monster. And perhaps, if circumstances were different and the two of them were back in their own galaxy, he would play it up-- yes, I am a monster, and you should fear me-- but here, there's nothing to gain with such pretense. ]

I'm not going to be starting the First Order here, if that's what you're getting at. [ Because he does consider himself a part of it, but it doesn't exist here, for the time being. ]

Then you've got quite a predicament. You're still lost, uncertain, and the only person here who understands... is a monster.

[Rey glares a little, unable to take his words at face value. He could attempt to start the First Order here. Gather people to believe in his cause, but most here wouldn't agree with it. Or, at least she has to have faith they won't. But, there is a tiny spark that is hopeful that maybe time here...it might change him.

Away from Snoke, away from that influence and the First Order's....he might learn to grow. He might come back to the Light...]

I am not lost. [Her temper flares again, recalling back to when she first woke up here. How she was told she had felt 'displaced' or some other falsehoods. That couldn't be further from the truth...but he had a point. She was lost. She had no tutor, nothing or anyone to guide her.]

Even without training, I still manage to best you. I can figure something out. [Which hasn't been working well for her at all. But she can pretend it has.]

[ There's so much potential in her temper, an anger that can be mined for strength. Rey is formidable even without training, but with guidance, he can help her to achieve greater heights. They both can.

It's not selflessness that drives him to make his offer, of course, but it's not callous opportunism, either. Not exactly, anyway. It's more that... like Rey, Ren is lost. Fractured and conflicted, and with no Supreme Leader to guide him, he needs something-- somebody-- he can connect with, even a little bit. There's a sense of something kindred between them, however faint. ]

If you truly believe that, then you have nothing to fear from me. Nothing to lose by training with me.

[There really wasn't anything for her to lose in this. Ren was the only one of the First Order. The Resistance and Rebellion were here, and if things got out of hand, she would be the only one who would be able to take him down...

And maybe, just maybe she could guide him back into the light. There was still conflict in him. No one could be that black hearted that they wouldn't feel something after losing a parent. His path wasn't set in stone, not yet. Maybe there was still hope.

After all, they both seem to understand what loss was, what loneliness was. But there's still a part of her that wants to tell him no. To tell him that she doesn't want him as a teacher. It's a childish response, one that she doesn't let out.]

I am not afraid of you. [The words easily slip out as she keeps her gaze locked on him.] How many times will you keep asking? How many times do we have to have this conversation?

[It's not a no...but it's not a yes either. There's a pause as she finally sorts out her feelings.] I need time to think this over...but until I give an answer...there can be a ceasefire between us.

[ He stares back at her, lingering a moment before answering: ] This is the first time we're having this conversation. Last time, it was mostly shouting. [ And lightsaber swinging. ANYWAY, that was a bit of deadpan humor. See, Kylo Ren can joke. ]

A ceasefire. [ Yeah... He can work with that. Ren nods. ] Very well. I'll keep my distance from you in the meantime. You have my word.

[ However much that means. ]

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