Kenoma

[adarkergray]

Previously:
Escape From Starkiller Base
At the Monuments of Madness
A Living Weapon



To Jacob's surprise, they made it to Ahch-To's system without incident - but then, it was clear now that the Force was on their side. As per his calculations, they'd dropped out of hyperspace a few hundred thousand kilometers away, just beyond its outermost moon's orbit, and as they headed toward the planet at sublight speeds, he tried to ignore the way his protective instincts were going into overdrive.

However, the closer they got to the planet, the more he couldn't help being aware that everyone there, everyone they were going to see, was someone who'd hurt Kylo terribly, and Force, how could Jacob even begin to justify taking him down there? To put him in that level of danger, in the kind of condition he was in--

He made himself take a deep breath, though the fingers of his free hand were clamped tightly around the hilt of one of his lightsabers. The urge was incredibly strong to tell Kylo that he couldn't in good conscience do this, that there had to be another, better way to defeat Snoke, and they would find it - but, deep down, he knew that if there was, the Force would have shown it to Kylo instead. He had to have faith in his master, and in the Force.

Instead, right now, he had more sympathy than ever for why Snoke wanted to destroy the Force's will - not that he had any sympathy for Snoke himself. That thought was enough to settle his nerves slightly by reminding what they were here for, why it was important, why they could all work together just this once.

Snoke had to die. That was the one thing they all could agree on.

Finally, he calmed his mind enough to push his senses outward through the Force, to see whose presence he could detect. Even this close in, he still couldn't pick up Skywalker, but he could sort out Rey and General Organa from the background energy of the planet. He turned to Kylo. "...Your mom's still here. Do you want me to ask her to leave?"

Comments

[adarkergray]

As usual, Jacob was humbled by his master's level of faith in his abilities - and, also as usual, he'd never even consider the possibility that he might not be able to accomplish something Kylo set before him. "I guess I could use the practice." Soon, I'll have students who are a lot more challenging than her, won't I? he continued inside Kylo's mind. He'd already started making some tentative plans about how he was going to raise and teach their children, but he already knew that even those, he might have to abandon completely - kids were unpredictable, especially when they were as damaged as the ones he and Kylo would undoubtedly be rescuing.

He put the thought out of mind when they arrived at the huts sooner than expected. Rey was already waiting for them in one of the larger ones; there was a fire already going in the fireplace, and the narrow bed was neatly made. It was warmer and drier inside than Jacob had expected, but as it was, it still wouldn't be fit for someone in Kylo's state of health to spend the night in. Jacob had some camping gear up in the ship that might just fix that, however.

He helped Kylo to sit down on the bed before turning back to Rey. "Would you mind coming up to my ship with me? There are some supplies and medical equipment I need to bring down, and I could do with an extra pair of hands." And it'd also give him an opportunity to bring up the idea that he could teach her at least some basic things, and see how she reacted to it.

[forcefullyunstable]

Kylo offered only a slight nod in Jacob’s direction, but the intent behind it was palpable.

Soon, I hope... so will I. He let his mind fill in the gaps. He wouldn’t give up on them, nor would he condemn them as broken or damaged out of fear for what Snoke had likely already done. It was far too soon to know the truth. And even if their worst fears were eventually realized, he wouldn’t do as Skywalker did. We’ll find a way.

For now, however, the way was a short path through the rest of the temple complex. As they walked, Kylo tried to put himself in the mindset he had on Xashiri. It helped a little, as did the gentle Force nudges he felt from his apprentice’s mind.

Leia pointed out who currently occupied each of the various huts before leading Jacob and Kylo to a couple that they could use while here. (Two were offered, but it quickly became apparent to everyone that only one would be necessary.) The accomodations were sparse, but true to her word, the texts were sitting on the bed alongside an extra blanket.

“Thank you.” Kylo didn’t specify who he was addressing or what for. But even if they didn’t accept it, they probably wouldn’t openly reject the small gesture of gratitude either.

In turn, it made Rey a little more willing to accept Jacob’s request.

At the sound of ‘medical equipment,’ she couldn’t help but take a long glance at her enemy on the bed. Kylo knew she was staring, but he kept his mouth shut.

“All right.” She looked back at Leia, with an unspoken request for her to stay in the hut with Kylo Ren. At least, until they got back. “This shouldn’t take long.”

[adarkergray]

Jacob felt a lot better about leaving Kylo alone with General Organa than he would've about leaving him with Rey; at least the worst thing that Leia would do was make him a little uncomfortable, and in all likelihood, she'd probably just step outside as soon as Rey and Jacob were gone so that he didn't have to deal with her any more than he wanted to. Throughout all of this, she'd been more considerate of Kylo than he'd expected.

As Jacob led the way back up to the ship, he waited a few moments before breaking the silence. "As you've probably gathered, none of this is going to be easy, especially if Luke can't help with anything except finding a way to cut Snoke off from the Force. It's going to take all of us just to harness the amount of power we'll need to kill Snoke from halfway across the galaxy - which means we're going to have to spend a lot of time inside each other's minds, figuring out how to work in tandem. I can only imagine how thrilled you must be with that idea." He turned back to look at her. "Would it make it easier for you if I taught you how to keep us completely out of your mind when you don't want us there? No tricks - I just want you to feel like you can keep yourself safe around us, so that we have some kind of basis for building enough trust in each other to get this done."

[forcefullyunstable]

The worst that would likely happen between Kylo and his mother was a lot of awkward silence, and perhaps some tense words. As Jacob led Rey from the hut, he was already making himself more comfortable on the bed. Unlike Skywslker, he at least trusted Leia enough to not kill him if he closed his eyes to rest.

Rey, meanwhile, followed the Knight of Ren toward the ship. She was obviously on edge, listening, but not completely letting down her guard.

“I was strong enough to shove your master out.” She didn’t want to admit that she needed help, or that the famous Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, couldn’t give it. However, her eyes betrayed her lack of confidence in her abilities. They were nearly back at the ship before she finally gave in. “how do you do it? On purpose... I mean?”

[adarkergray]

"There are a few different ways to do it - but the most important thing to start with is not being easy to read. Properly constructed mental defenses will not only buy you time to figure out how to deal with a mental intrusion, they'll help keep your surface thoughts opaque. I've been able to pull incredible amounts of information out of people without resorting to a mind probe, sometimes without them realizing they'd been compromised at all, because of how accessible and easy to manipulate their surface thoughts were." As they entered the ship and began packing, Jacob walked her through a series of visualization exercises to reconstruct her mental defenses - already more powerful than Jacob would've expected for how shoddy and amateurish they were - into something both stronger and easier to maintain.

As far as the gear went, he gave Rey everything that was difficult or impossible to break - part of their food and water rations, tarps to keep out the drafts, sleeping bags, a battery-powered heating pad to go inside Kylo's, and a ground pad to go underneath Jacob's, since the bed in the hut was far too narrow for them to share. He gathered up the medical equipment himself - a collapsible IV pole, crystalloid and nutrient solution IV bags, replacement sterile dressings for Kylo's central line, the wireless pulse oximeter and a datapad with extra battery packs to link it to, just in case - along with the rest of their rations, and dry soap and shampoo in case they couldn't make it back up to the ship to use the sonic.

While they headed back for the boarding ramp, he moved on to the final part of his first lesson for Rey. "There are three main ways to deal with a mental intrusion - the first is to resist, to reinforce your defenses with everything you have. That's the simplest, but it's also the likeliest to get you hurt, especially if it doesn't work. Another technique that you've managed to use instinctively, and I have no idea how, is turning the attack back around on your assailant. That's also risky, because it requires hitting them as hard as possible when they expected least, and it will compromise you if you fail. The third option is to evade it entirely - and that's the one I'm best at. Go ahead and try to get into my mind, so I can show you what it feels like."

[forcefullyunstable]

Rey listened as she packed up the various supplies Jacob handed her. Her uninterested expression was a carefully guarded feint, which she visibly doubled down on the moment Jacob spoke of manipulating surface thoughts. That was what Kylo had just done, after all, and she knew they were both capable of so much more than that.

She'd been through more than that - and it wasn't exactly pleasant.

Rey welcomed the visualization exercises far more than she would admit. Her first instinct, as it had been when she woke up in a First Order interrogation chair, was to counter. She didn’t know why that came so naturally to her, and she honestly wasn’t aware she was doing it until she hit the inevitable block in Jacob’s solid mental defenses. The fact that he didn’t take advantage of the compromised position he later informed her of made her trust him a little bit more than before.

When he asked her to attempt to breach his mind, she agreed.

They stopped for a moment. Rey adjusted her stance and then reached up to his head the way Kylo did to her. It wasn’t necessary - her earlier accidental attempts more than proved that - but she thought it might make the technique stronger. (In reality, it stemmed more from Kylo’s affinity for telekinesis. it was simply how his mind best perceived the Force.)

[adarkergray]

Jacob resisted for a moment, to let her gauge how much force she was putting into the attempt and determine that she was doing it correctly. "The way I've always thought of it is that you're making your mind like water. Clear your thoughts so that there's nothing easy for your opponent to pin down. And then, instead of resisting..." He closed his eyes, and then his mental presence became evanescent for a moment, sliding out from within the grip of her assault. "...you just sort of flow somewhere else." He opened his eyes again, giving her an almost shy smile. "When I first figured out how to do that, it really got under Kylo's skin that, for the first time, I knew how to do something and he didn't. Things like that don't bother him anymore, but it was funny at the time."

Of course, he had a reason for telling her that; he was hoping he could subtly help her see Kylo as a little more human, a little less frightening. Maybe she might even come to see the good in him, as Jacob had - or at least enough of it to feel comfortable working with both of them.

"Anyway, do you want to try, or do you need me to demonstrate it again for you?" They could go through it as many times as Rey needed, but some of them might have to wait until after they'd gotten the supplies back down to the hut.

[forcefullyunstable]

Rey felt her energy suddenly flow past Jacob’s mind. It was like looking at Luke Skywalker’s - at least in the sense that she couldn’t. But he’d hidden himself away from the Force while Jacob was obviously still there.

“Do that again.” She requested, wanting to feel it again. For as much as she begged Master Skywalker, this was something he’d never offered to teach.

She asked him to demonstrate another two or three times before she felt she was ready to attempt it herself. And even then, she was wary. “...How often did Kylo force himself into your mind before you learned how to resist him?”

[adarkergray]

Jacob obligingly demonstrated the technique a few more times, then started leading the way back down the slope while Rey processed the concept of what he'd just shown her. At her question, though, he stopped for a moment. "It wasn't like that - it was no worse than physical sparring." Which, if she knew exactly what his training had been like, might not have been a completely reassuring thing to say - there were plenty of occasions on which Jacob had gotten his ass kicked, and badly. However, unlike with Rey, Kylo had no reason to dig very far into Jacob's mind; there had been nothing in there of crucial importance to the First Order, so he'd very rarely pushed for Jacob to reveal more than he wanted to.

"Besides, just getting past your mental defenses doesn't mean I need to go in very deep. If you're worried about what I might see, fill your surface thoughts with a strong emotion - something you can focus easily on, that will keep everything else obscured." That was what his master had instructed him to do, and it had worked; at first, that emotion had been how much he hated Kylo, and he had to suppress another smile, thinking of how much things had changed since then - and how much better off they both were, despite everything, for it. "Let me know when you're ready."

As soon as Rey gave him the go-ahead, he began exerting pressure against her mental defenses, increasing it slowly and carefully so she'd have time to figure out what she was trying to do.

Meanwhile, while Jacob and Rey made their supply run, Leia had settled herself into the chair that went with the tiny desk next to Kylo's bed - though, she'd been visibly wrestling with the question of whether to just leave, until Kylo actually began looking through the texts that Rey had brought back. "...Would you mind if I looked at one? Between the two of us, it might go a little faster, trying to find what you need."

[forcefullyunstable]

Kylo Ren was a very different man in the beginning. He was his master’s apprentice, mercilessly doing unto his own knights as Snoke did unto him. He commanded and controlled as much as he attempted to teach, always competing for his master’s favor and always mindful of how easily that favor could be taken away.

Time and experience, however, taught Kylo more than Snoke ever did. Jacob was gifted in ways Kylo simply was not, and vice versa. When they both learned how to work with each other instead of against each other, they both progressed far more rapidly. Now, they were a paradigm for what a master and apprentice should be - far more than Skywalker could claim with teacher or student alike.

“All right.” Rey was still wary, but eventually did give Jacob permission to try and breach her mind. “I’m ready.”

The first few attempts were shaky at best. She absolutelu hated feeling him inside her head, even if he did only skim the surface. She tried to fill her mind with strong emotions, and Jacob likely glimpsed a few scattered memories of a young girl crying in the sandy dunes at night, the anger of a prisoner in a First Order interrogation chamber or a frustrated padawan desperste to find her place in all this. Each time, though, she had to quickly shut herself down.

By the time they reached the hut, however, she’d found her mental footing. Much like she did while battling Kylo on Starkiller, she let the Force flow through her and suddenly, flowing around Jacob’s intrusions was easy. At long last, she successfully redirected him. At long last, something actually made sense!

“I did it! It worked!!”

inside the hut, mother and son were both searching through the ancient tomes. Clearly, they’d come to some sort of mutual agreement. It was unlikely that Kylo had propped up the various pillows on his own, but he was resting comfortably against them, and the extra blanket was draped neatly over his lap. He was trying his best to focus, but exhaustion was winning out.

Leia shot them a glance as they entered, shushing Rey gently.

[adarkergray]

Each time Jacob breached Rey's mental defenses, he was careful not to pry too deep, and to let her sense his surface thoughts as well, hoping that'd make it easier to deal with - and in them, he had nothing but encouragement and reassurance for her. It's okay. You're getting there. You'll be able to pull it off next time.

When she finally did get it, Jacob couldn't help grinning. "See, what did I tell you? You're a natural. Actually, I kind of think that's why Skywalker didn't want to train you - he didn't want the responsibility for someone as gifted as you are." Which, after the way things had gone with Kylo, was less flattery and more of a solid working theory - as badly as he'd failed Kylo, maybe Skywalker was trying to play it safe with Rey by doing as little as possible, though that came with its own pitfalls. Jacob, at least, wasn't encumbered by a similar level of caution, and as they arrived back at their makeshift lodgings, he was already thinking about what else he might be able to teach Rey that would be of use to all of them in the days to come.

As Jacob reentered the hut, and took in the scene with Kylo and Leia, his protective instincts flared again - part of him wanted to pull General Organa outside and hiss at her that as much as she'd hurt Kylo, she didn't get to try to cozy up to him now, when he was vulnerable; however, he forced the urge back before the others could sense it, reminding himself that there was nothing wrong with her showing Kylo a little bit of basic human decency. General Organa knew she no longer had any claim to her son, and she'd been nothing but respectful from the moment Jacob had first contacted her.

Still, he was back by Kylo's side in an instant. "Find anything useful?" He wrapped one of the sleeping bags around him and finding a comfortable spot for the heating pad before setting up the IV pole and connecting bags of crystalloid and nutrient solutions onto Kylo's central line.

[forcefullyunstable]

Rey was a lot like Kylo. Much of what she did happened instinctively first and intellectually second. She had a considerable amount of raw power. She also responded remarkably well to praise. (something that she too had grown up without.)

But when they both entered the hut, it was Leia's side she went to. Not Kylo Ren's. She wanted to tell Leia what she'd just learned, but the Resistance General motioned for quiet. The silence made it feel like less of a research session and more like a deathbed vigil.

If Leia noticed Jacob's initial reaction through the Force, she didn't acknowledge it. Neither did Rey. Kylo wearily looked up, and Jacob was already kneeling beside him.

It was clear from his place in the tome that he hadn't made it nearly as far as he wanted to.

"Not yet... Even with two people looking. I need to feel it out... the way we did with Plagueis' writing..." His voice trailed off, unwilling to admit the obvious in the presence of his mother, even if she already knew. But I'm too tired right now.

He trusted her enough to accept comfort, but not enough to completely lower his guard under her watch.

Meanwhile, Rey bit her lip. She felt like she was intruding on a very private moment of weakness. Leia was lost in her own thoughts, to the point that a quick tap on her shoulder startled her.

"Let's... give them some time to get settled." she suggested. "We need to check on Master Skywalker."

[adarkergray]

((Sorry for the delay, I have been so sick since about Thursday x_x))

Jacob turned back to the others. "We'll reconvene in the morning, when we can accomplish more." A faint hint of a smile touched his lips as he focused on Rey. "Rey, good job today - just keep working on strengthening your mental defenses like I showed you, and before long, maintaining them will become something you can do instinctively."

General Organa, meanwhile, was still staring at, but mostly through, the book in her hands. "...Do you mind if I keep this one overnight?"

Evidently, something in it had called to her, and Jacob glanced back over at his master for reassurance before giving her their permission. "Just make sure you get it back to us first thing in the morning, and be ready to tell us everything you can about its contents." If at least one of them made some progress tonight, it would be better than nothing.

As soon as Rey and Leia had left, Jacob busied himself tarping the windows and any cracks he could find in the stone walls, just to try to make the place a little more livable, before adding more of what, on closer inspection, turned out to be some kind of dried seaweed to the fire. Finally, he rolled out the ground pad and his sleeping bag on top of it on the floor next to Kylo's bed. "...Today definitely went a lot better than I was expecting."

[forcefullyunstable]

[Aww, hopefully you’re feeling better now!]

Rey felt a surge of unexpected pride when Jacob praised her. “I will. And when Master Skywalker prepares dinner, I’ll...”

She looked at the IV, feeling more torn than before. Just what had Snoke done? How sick was he? He could eat, couldn’t he? Either way, he probably wasn’t going to be up to joining them, and Jacob had been loathe to go anywhere without his master. It would probably be far better for Luke as well if they kept their distance for now.

“I’ll bring something over.”

The air stilled considerably once Rey and Leia were gone. Kylo let himself truly relax for the first time since they arrived in the system. He was exhausted, but he forced himself to stay awake while Jacob finished preparing the hut.

“You... you think so?” He mumbled in tired disbelief.

[adarkergray]

Jacob sat down on top of his sleeping bag and reached up to squeeze Kylo's hand gently. "Skywalker doesn't want to finish what he started with you all those years ago. General Organa knows how both of us feel about her, but she's still got our back. And even Rey's tolerating our presence here. I'd say we're off to a good start." While there had been tension between them, it hadn't grown beyond what Jacob was able to control, and while there had been complications he hadn't anticipated, at least he knew he wasn't going to have to sleep with one eye open in case Rey or Luke decided that Leia didn't know best after all. Jacob had definitely been prepared for worse. "Plus, you handled everything incredibly well. Even if that isn't how you feel, it's the truth." Kylo had been face to face with people who had done nothing but cause him pain and let him down - and yet, despite everything, they were all still going to be able to work together on this.

He took one of the tomes down off the small stack next to the bed, and began thumbing through it to get a cursory sense of what he was dealing with. "...Do you trust whatever Skywalker's going to make for dinner?" The local cuisine was evidently not lethal to humans, but beyond that, Jacob wasn't sure what to expect, either. He didn't want to give Kylo anything that was going to challenge his stomach when he was only just getting used to eating solids again. "If not, or if you don't think you'll be awake long enough to find out, I can just rehydrate some of our rations."

[forcefullyunstable]

The more Jacob explained, the more Kylo found his way through the torrent if the day’s emotions. It really had turned better than they’d both originally feared. It was difficult, yes, but they did have sanctuary. They were on Ahch-To. They had the sacred Jedi texts in their possession - minus the one that Leia was reviewing.

“...thank you.” He returned the gentle squeeze - a gesture of gratitude for everything his apprentice had done to secure a truce between everyone and, like always, for being the anchor he so badly needed.

“I know I should eat something.” He sighed. He wasn’t hungry, even if his body was screaming to replace every bit of what the Force wound burned through. “Better the rations. At least for now.”

He hoped that he’d have more energy in the morning after he’d slept - energy that he’d dedicate to reaching out to the Force itself for guidance and meditating on the tome still open beside him.

[adarkergray]

"Just for tonight, try not to worry about anything. You've definitely earned your rest." Jacob gave Kylo a small smile, and his hand another gentle squeeze, before reluctantly he pulled away. He didn't want to admit, even to himself, the kind of victory it was, that they'd escaped Snoke's clutches and gotten here, lest he jinx it - but maybe, just maybe, this time they had won the battle that was key to winning the war.

Jacob rehydrated and heated up a small portion of their food rations for Kylo, probably all he could handle right now - the IV nutrient packs would help keep him going for now, but Jacob would have to get an actual, decent meal into him in the morning. He was hopeful that Kylo would feel much better by then, despite the chill and the damp - as densely as the energy of the Force, both the light side and the dark side, permeated the island, he might be able to draw off it unconsciously, or perhaps the will of the Force itself would give him what he needed, to prop up and begin repairing his shattered body. "Eat whatever you can manage."

On the other hand, Jacob was going to be brave and try whatever it was that Rey was bringing for them. If he got the chance, he also wanted to talk to her a little more, now that he wasn't rushing to see to it that his master was taken care of - he wanted to get a better feel about where her head was at, regarding all of this. He suspected that she would be the one they would rely on most, in their push against Snoke, so it was important for him to put to rest as many of her doubts and fears as he could.

[forcefullyunstable]

Kylo ate what he could of the rations, which was actually more than he expected of himself. Jacob’s presence calmed him, and slowly helped to unwind the knots his stomach had been tied in all day. When his eyes started to droop closed, Kylo didn’t fight it. He was vaguely aware of Jacob tucking him in, mindful of the central line as he always was. He could feel their connection within the Force and let it gently guide him into a deep, satisfying sleep.

About an hour later, Rey knocked softly on the door to the hut before peeking inside.

She knew right away that Kylo Ren was fast alseep, and also that his apprentice wasn’t.

[adarkergray]

As Kylo drifted off, Jacob adjusted the heating pad to make sure he wouldn't catch a chill - or overheat - and arranged the sleeping bag to keep the cold and the damp out without snagging on his central line. Finally, Jacob was beginning to relax as well; despite his earlier reassuring words to Kylo, part of him had still been tense, still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Feeling the Force's energy was reassuring, however - it was on their side, and they were in the heart of one of its most powerful strongholds. They could do this. They would get through it all.

Jacob was concentrating his focus on the text he'd been thumbing through earlier, trying to get a feel for its contents and what he needed from them, when Rey returned; he barely noticed her knocking, and almost jumped when she opened the door a little. Motioning for her to keep quiet, he set the book back down with the others before stepping outside to join her, and to examine what Skywalker had made for them. He couldn't exactly identify anything in the bowl, but at least it smelled better than he'd anticipated. "Thanks. Would you mind maybe sticking around for a few minutes?"

[forcefullyunstable]

“It’s stew.” She supplied as he studied the bowl. “Mostly fish, some vegetables. I know it doesn’t smell all that great, but it’s not that bad. And it’s filling.”

If they needed something even more nutritious, there was always the milk of the thala-sirens. Luke Skywalker had been subsisting on it, along with what he could catch or gather, for the better part of a decade. But they usually didn’t beach themselves until sunrise, so that would have to wait until morning.

It was an odd feeling, caring enough for her enemies to ensure they didn’t starve. But seeing Kylo Ren like that struck more of a nerve than she expected it to. And the technique she learned from Jacob was more useful than anything Luke had shown her.

So when Jacob asked, Rey nodded, “All right.”

[adarkergray]

In the middle of the cluster of huts was a set of weathered stone benches; Jacob led the way over and picked a seat on one, leaving plenty of room for Rey to join him. As she settled in, he tried a bite of his stew; it was surprisingly not horrible.

"...So, I know all of this is a lot to take in," he began. Which had to be an understatement, really; a week ago, Kylo Ren was probably the last person in the galaxy she'd ever thought she'd team up with, least of all for something like assassinating Snoke. "How are you feeling about everything? I don't want to put any more pressure on you than you can handle."

Eventually, though, she'd have to bear the burden of helping them command the immense energies it would take to destroy Snoke, even more so now that it had become apparent that Skywalker couldn't help them properly - and there were many things Jacob had to decide whether to tell her, that might change her perspective on the entire situation. He definitely didn't want her cracking from stress at this stage.

[forcefullyunstable]

It truly was a lot to take in, but that wasn't just because of the task at hand. Her mind was a troubled mess of doubt, fear and all sorts of emotions Luke either tried to ignore or blatantly disapproved of.

"The Force..." she finally replied. "It's inside me. It's awake. But I still don't understand what it is or what my place is in all this..."

She thought back to Starkiller Base, when that monster killed his own father and then offered to be her teacher and show her the ways of the Force. She refused, and instead followed the map they'd obtained to Skywalker - convinced that this was the right way. And yet, there was a part of her still questioning. Skywalker didn't fully trust her. Thanks to everything Kylo did, he probably never would, no matter how hard she tried to prove him wrong.

"I don't know how I'm going to help you fight Snoke."

[adarkergray]

"Helping us fight Snoke is the easy part. I've learned how to use a technique called battle meditation, that will allow us all to link our minds so that we can make coordinated attacks through the Force, requiring far more power and precision than any one of us would be capable of on our own. All you need is to be comfortable with letting that happen, which is what we'll be working on for as long as we can. And after we kill Snoke, you'll never have to deal with either of us being inside your head again." It was better, he'd decided, to tackle things in the most immediate terms possible; after all, once Snoke was dead, he and Kylo were going straight back to the First Order, and he doubted Rey would even consider the idea of joining them. The principles that were important to her seemed very different from the ones that mattered to them.

"As for what the Force is..." He smiled, briefly. "That's something that sentients have been trying to come to grips with for tens of thousands of years. Finding your place in it is easier, though. All you have to do is truly listen to what it's trying to tell you, and believe it, and act on it - no matter how painful that might be at first." Jacob was definitely one to talk; he'd spent more than a decade of his life resisting what the Force was trying to tell him about who he was and where he belonged, and resisting it had nearly destroyed him before Kylo had finally forced him to embrace it. He didn't even want to think about the idea that Rey might have an equally painful journey ahead.

[forcefullyunstable]

While she glimpsed the term in one of the sacred texts, Rey didn’t really know anything about battle meditation or whether it would be effective against someone like Snoke, and at such a great distance. It sounded both fascinating and frightening at the same time.

Instead, she focused on what she could understand - at least partly.

“Listen to what it’s trying to tell me...” she mused. Again, she thought back to Starkiller Base, the first time she truly felt this power calling to her. But then again, she felt Snoke calling to her too. Kylo was right, and she knew it now. It was so insidiously natural that she almost couldn’t tell the difference.

No, she reasoned with herself. One felt right. The other... didn’t.

“...Before you arrived, I saw your master. He was standing on the cliffs, looking at the tree. I thought it was some kind of ghost at first. Or something I just imagined, but Master Skywalker saw it too.”

Luke wouldn’t talk about what they’d both seen, she added. That, of course, came as no surprise.

“He was gone before I had a chance to say or do anything. But I could feel something. Something horrible, like a sickness inside me. And a voice, it might have been the Force, it might have even been Snoke, saying, ‘you can’t do it. The effort alone would kill you.’ That’s when he disappeared.”

She drew a deep breath, only then realizing how much she was shaking. “The voice is right, isn’t it. What you’re planning on doing. He’s willing to die for this.”

[adarkergray]

Jacob knew exactly how vulnerable Kylo was, how fragile his health was, but that didn't mean there was no overcoming it. "Alone, none of us can take Snoke, but especially not like this. But that's why we're here, and we're not alone - so that no one has to die for this, no matter how worthwhile a sacrifice it would be." And Jacob wouldn't let anything happen to Kylo. He wasn't going to mention it to Rey, but he still had Plagueis's journal, and every day, he felt like he was a little closer to understanding all of it; even if the worst seemed like it was going to happen, Jacob wouldn't allow it.

He had to fight back hard against the urge to smile when the thought crossed his mind that there was no kriffing way he was going to allow himself to end up a single father to multiple children at only 23 years old.

Noticing how much Rey was shaking, he reached out to place a steadying hand on her shoulder. "We'll all get through this. I don't know what things will be like afterward, but that much, I can promise you." He truly didn't know what the Force would need from them after they'd purged it of the cancer threatening to take hold, he didn't even know if things like the Resistance or the First Order mattered to its designs. All he had to go on was the sense he'd developed very recently, that soon the most recent generations of Force sensitives would be pushed into exploring a space beyond the light or dark sides, and what they'd find there would be crucial to bringing true balance to the galaxy.