let us sacrifice today...

[jiaasjen]

who: kylo ren bitty!ben solo and you!
what: au event; apparently de-aging is catching. he's a six year old with burgeoning psychic powers etc etc.
when: 14-24th june
where: various parts of the quarantine
warnings: ornery boychild and general disobedience.


i. communal building, private floor - waking up; open

[ Waking confused and bleary-eyed, Ben hadn’t dwelt too long on the sense of being misplaced; it wasn’t that he wasn’t concerned but was at least old enough to know that curling into a ball and crying was unlikely to yield any beneficial results. A quick inspection of the room (décor bland enough that it could belong to any of a number of military bases or low-budget hotels) reveals clothes roughly in his size and something to eat.

Shoving several pieces of hard fruit into the pockets of his trousers, Ben tackles the door, getting it open with surprisingly little difficulty, and heading outside, down the hall and to the elevator. ]


ii. outside – trees; open

[ Exploring the Quarantine yields mixed results, and a panic has slowly begun to stir in his chest the longer time passes without a familiar face or any sort of clue as to where he is.

It’s ironic then that the thing that distracts him from a panic attack are trees: he’d never been to Kashyyk but had heard enough of the stories from both his father and uncle to recognize what looks alarmingly like a Wroshyr tree.

Enormous, it towers over the immediate area and would be more than high enough for him to get a decent view of his surroundings (far better than just meandering around, hoping luck or one of his parents will find him) and also afford him some safety should whoever brought him here prove to have less than benign intentions.

Glancing left then right then left again, Ben rushes over, fingers digging immediately into the wild whorls of the bough and forcing himself up and up and up. ]


iii. wildcard

[ choose your own adventure! feel free to come at me bros or you can pp/pm me to discuss things. ]

Comments

[mindforge]

[Never in his life has he felt so helpless. Well--maybe that's not true, thinking back to that brief amount of time spent on Jakku. This is different; this isn't a mass of murder orphans ready to tear him apart. This is a different sort of wild, he can't predict, he can't attempt to defend himself in any way he's ever learned how to before.

He flails, trying to keep the water from getting into his eyes more, from into his nose and mouth. If he can get to closer to shore, or even just a spot where he can reach the bottom, he could wade back over.

So far he's not been so lucky. He doesn't even register that Ben's come in after him until he's in range, and despite his panic he tries to reach for him for help or something. If this kid can shove him into the water without touching him, surely he can get him out of this alive.]

[jiaasjen]

[ Grabbing onto Hux takes a few attempts but he succeeds eventually, getting an arm around his waist. ] It's okay.

[ Shouted, desperate; he doesn't really know how they're getting out of this yet but they will. He'll make sure that they will. ] It's going to be okay.

[mindforge]

[Maybe later when the shock and anger subsides, he'll be mortified by having to rely on someone younger to save him.

But for now he's gripping onto Ben's shirt with one hand and trying to mimic the other kid's movements instead of flailing. Whether it's actually effective remains to be seen but it's better than what he was doing before.]

[jiaasjen]

[ The current carries them further downriver, Ben doing his best to keep them both afloat—eventually the ground beneath their feet is more compact, easier to find their footing. ]

[mindforge]

[Once they find their footing, they're able to wade to shore, much to Hux's relief. He doesn't drop to the ground once he's on dry land, but he does hold onto his knees as he bends over, trying to catch his breath.

And finally:]

You nearly killed me.

[jiaasjen]

[ Only nearly should count for a lot more than it sounds, but then Ben is more than willing to give him this one.

He's still more than a little wide-eyed over it, honestly; the power had always come easier when he was angry (later he would learn what this meant, that darker emotions came quick to hand and offered alluring and quick solutions to problems that could otherwise prove tediously slow) but the desire had been to startle Hux, to prove that he wasn't a weakling.

...well, he'd done that hadn't he?

Scrubbing at his face, he could feel the tell-tale prick of tears and he had to force air past his teeth and into his lungs. Willing himself not to sob as the reality suddenly came collapsing down on too of him. ]

I'm sorry.

[ Sorry, sorry, sorry. ]

I didn't -- that's not what I wanted.

[mindforge]

Well, you did. I don't know how, but that's what you did.

[Even at this age, he doesn't quite know how to be forgiving. It's never been something allowed for him, so it's hard to allow for someone else. Besides, this kid needs to stop being such a baby if he's going to make it.

Not that Hux really cares about that. He's too upset and shaken up to concern himself with Ben's ability to survive.] You've got to own your actions.

[Once he's in decent enough shape to move, he's walking away. Ben can have the kriffing riverbank. Hux just wants dry clothes.]