hello-stensy:

The two knights of Ren and the man at their charge were braving the storm that had settled over Arkanis. The wind was slowing them down, but the knights had no choice but to follow their master’s order. They could not even imagine doing otherwise. The forest was a rugged terrain that they had crossed only once, therefore they were not well acquainted with the roads. Luckily, the poacher had a better knowledge of it. He was guiding them and they were protecting him. But the wind kept getting stronger. They were soaked by rain, and the crossing was becoming more and more dangerous. The sky was darker than ever, and the trees looked like long, dreadful limbs ready to seize them―to rush them into the howling mouth of hell―even for the knights who were used to living among them and the poacher who had wandered these woods since he was an infant. There was something apocalyptic about the setting, but they could not stop until they reached their destination. They had to entrust Finn with Poe Dameron, Leia Ren’s loyal second-in-command. To do so, they needed to go through this damned forest to the mountains where he and his companions were located. Easier said than done.

The descendant of the Hux lineage refused to make it easier for them. He too fought against the terrible weather to catch up with them, closely followed by Phasma and two soldiers.

He did not fear nature, only his father’s wrath. That fear kept him going, leading the way.  Phasma did not believe they would be able to catch the fugitives, but was proved wrong.
When they encountered them, Armitage Hux shouted:

-You are not going ANYWHERE, you damned BASTARDS!

-Tsh. Bastards. Look who’s talking, Jeha deliberately provoked.

Finn was the only one desperately unarmed, while all others drew their swords.

-Don’t just stand there. Leave, Poacher. You know the way. We will keep them from running after you, Jeha affirmed.

-You may try, Phasma retorted.

Jeha took the initiative, and lunged for the first strike against Phasma. As the violent offensive began, Finn fled, leaving his saviors behind with regrets and the sincere hope that they would not meet death on his behalf.

Jeha was a daring fighter. He proved a good match for Phasma’s merciless assaults. The other knight, Liel, was cunning. He knew precisely where to aim to unbalance his adversary. When he swung his sword, the powerful blast was sure to make the unprepared enemy shift.

Armitage and Phasma, even backed by a soldier each, were still challenged by Kylo Ren’s apprentices. Armitage hated this fighting style he had already encountered―the sword blows that made him feel like a frail child, in the boisterous style typical of the  Knights of Ren. Having fought Kylo Ren, Armitage knew what to expect from his men, but he still could not do more than block their attacks. Phasma, who was known as a mighty swordsman―far more than Armitage was―had trouble counter-attacking against the brutal assaults of Jeha. Armitage heard his Captain grunt when the Knight’s sword pierced through shiny armor.  This was yet another affront against him, adding to an ongoing list. I’ll make him pay. I’ll make Kylo Ren pay for everything he did once I am done with his puppets, Armitage thought. He knew he couldn’t lose focus from the fight andhad no way to be sure Phasma was okay. He wanted to end this quickly, determined not to give up. He could not resign and give satisfaction to the Rens. This country was his, or at least it would be after his father dies. What kind of ruler would let strangers to his regime give him moral lectures? That was simply outrageous.

I will shut them up and show the world that you don’t mess with the Hux family. Once and for all. Kylo Ren and his plotting mother will set the perfect example for all to see.

As he fought his Knights, Armitage was reminded of the few moments he had spent with Kylo Ren. Most of their encounters had been a pain to him, but he had begun to think Kylo Ren might not be that bad after all. That, with time, he could even come to befriend him.

Good thing all this happened, as a reminder of my father’s lessons. Trust no one.

The soldiers fighting alongside Phasma and Armitage had perished under the knights’ ferocious strikes by now. Somehow, no matter how brutal they could be, the Knights were now sparing the Captain and Prince.

-Don’t make us hurt you both more than needed, Hux’s opponent tried to advise him.

-Who do you think you are? Armitage snarled between clenched teeth.

Armitage could not handle any more insults that day. His anger and his eagerness to get revenge blurred everything around him. Slowly, all background noise faded and he could not hear anything but his own breath and a burning fire rising inside, taking over his body. Then…

The silence that followed was piercing his ear-drums. Everything was now dark as they looked around, all of them confused.

What’s happening?

A violent buzzing sound resonated inside his head. He held it, closing his eyes. He felt disoriented, losing his balance. Significant moments of his life were playing under his eyelids as if he had died. All of it accompanied by one of those damned songs, those shameful lullabies in which he stars as the infamous main character.

Little Armitage wants to be as tall as his daddy

Standing on corpses, Little Armitage is shaky

More than once, during his father’s most violent episodes, Armitage felt as if his life was about to leave his body from the humiliation and pain.

Destined for blood, he would rather pick some flowers

When his father caught him, their faces lost colors

Armitage was twelve, and the skin of his back is burned, marked with red iron. His father forbade him to cry, because he claimed he earned this punishment for his failed attempt at running away with his “whore mother”. As if watching her hang was not enough punishment for him.

Armitage couldn’t make it go away.

His mother was hanged for all to see. Her nails scratched at her throat. Her blue eyes were filled with an ocean of tears, and they looked deep inside of his own. He couldn’t look away because his father forbade him.

You have to learn the hard way, boy.

I am ashamed by your behaviour.

In a lifetime I could never make a man out of you.

You will never be worthy of my name.

I didn’t want to be worthy of your name.

I wanted to be with my mother. I wanted to be a child. I wanted to run away from you. You were scaring me! You still do!

-It is not necessarily a bad thing that you are nothing like him. You can break the curse. You can change it all.

And how do I do that? Do I kill him? And then what? What is left for me if my father dies?

-You really should get some human contact, if you know what I mean.

The following scene is new to Hux’s memory. He sees his father under the pouring rain, swinging his sword with rage. His opponent is Kylo Ren. Kylo and his remaining Knights formed a circle around Leia Ren, protecting her with all their might. Kylo seemed fiercer than when he fought Armitage. While watching the scene from above, Armitage realized how much Kylo had restrained himself when they dueled. For a brief moment, Kylo felt someone watching him and looked up. Time expanded. Armitage knew it was unlikely that Kylo could see him because he was not physically in his presence. However, the prince of Naboo was staring right at him. Their hearts skipped before the course of time resumed. Brendol had jumped at the opportunity Kylo’s brief distraction brought, and the unfair king carved Kylo’s skin with his sword, leaving a bleeding gash slashed across his face.
Kylo was so startled that he did not even scream. He couldn’t allow himself to lose focus.
His mother and his pride were at stake.
His body was now inhabited by a raw, unkempt violence. Armitage could feel the same power stirring inside his own body. He had felt it while entering this part of the forest and he had felt it fighting the knights.

Kylo had succeeded in unbalancing Brendol. He slashed him, digging a trench in the king’s armor. He ran to him and pierced his body, thrusting his sword through his chest.
Armitage’s scream was muted. Something now pulled him away from the vision, higher and higher in the sky. He could not feel the rain. He could no longer hear or see anything. Then, he opened his eyes again.

He was not in the forest or at the castle’s main gates. He looked around, trying to  grasp information on his whereabouts. The ground was coarse and cold. It was too dark to see anything. Without much hope, Armitage called out:

-Phasma?
-Sir? Thanks God, you are here! Are you alright?

Armitage was still shaken by the vision he encountered earlier, but he did not feel hurt. He remembered Phasma’s injury.

-I’m alright! But what about you?
-I don’t know. I can’t see. Where are you?
-What’s going on here? Said another voice.

Armitage recognized the voice as one of the Knights of Ren.

-Did you all see what I saw? The…visions, the knight added.

Armitage frowned. Wait… So, I wasn’t the only one having these weird nightmares?
He wondered if they each had seen their own demons like he had. But mostly, he wondered how they all got here. Before they had been outside, fighting in the storm. It was still raining now, he could hear it, but they were safe from it here, wherever that was.

The strange and heavy presence he felt in the forest intensified. Suddenly, candles lit the place all around them. An old man was standing tall in the center, wrapped in a dark robe. His face looked disfigured, almost inhuman. He said:

-Welcome to my humble cave. I am Snoke. Do not be alarmed. You seemed to need assistance. It’s too dangerous to stay outside in those conditions. The storm is raging, and one of you is bleeding.

He kneeled to Phasma, who moved back in distrust.

-Do not fear me, the old man advised, I am here to heal you, if you’ll allow me. Let me take a look at your injury.

Even though Phasma was still wearing a helmet, Armitage knew that the captain was waiting for his directive. Hux hesitated, but ended up nodding.

-Don’t you dare hurt him, old man, Hux threatened, pointing in the stranger’s direction with his pistol, I am watching you.

-Him? the man repeated. He sniggered, then asked Phasma, I require you to take your chest-piece off.

The silence was heavy. Armitage was still pointing his pistol at the old man, and Phasma did not move.

-What the hell are you waiting for? Do as he says, Phasma, Armitage snapped.

With a resigned sigh, Phasma obeyed. Under the surveillance of all others, Captain Phasma revealed what was underneath the shiny armor―the shape of what was clearly that of a woman’s bust. Armitage blinked rapidly, unable to process this new information, before looking away uncomfortably.

This was the strangest of days.

***********************************************

After he received the unexpected raven from the castle letting him know that Leia would send a man his way whom she had saved from certain death by Brendol Hux, Poe Dameron found himself uneasy. He stood alert at the cave’s entrance hidden behind the curtain of a waterfall, waiting for any sight of his mission. The storm was dying down, but he found no trace of the expected man. Poe began to fear that the poor lad had been taken down by the fierce wind.

He felt conflicted. When he was just a teen, he thought people in need of assistance should always get it. More than once, he himself had overcome the hardships of a fugitive life, as he descended from a line of rebels. He knew how it felt, though he didn’t fear any regime or man.

With the storm calming down, he thought he might take a few men with him and look for the escapee. If Poe took action as his young self once did, however, it would go against all the responsibilities he held now. Could he really risk his friend’s lives without evidence that their guest was not already dead? They were all preparing for the assault on Arkanis’ castle, and could not risk being caught. But…

His mind was made up. He was about to call his friends to join him in his search when he noticed a shape approaching with uncertainty. The man was obviously weakened, by his gait. Poe exited the cover of the cave and tried his luck, calling him by the name he found written in the raven’s letter.

-Finn?

When the man raised his head, Poe smiled. He was so relieved. He went to help him walk up.

-I’m Poe Dameron! Nice to meet you, Finn! You are okay, in trustful hands, if I might say!

Once Finn perked up in a warm blanket in front of a campfire, he was in measure to understand what was going on around him. He couldn’t believe what was before his eyes. The cave was vast and populated by what looked like a whole village.

-It looks bigger from the inside, that’s for sure, Finn said before sipping the delicious soup he had been served.

Poe’s smile was warmer than any campfire, even after that terrible storm. The rebel leaned forward and asked Finn in a low voice, his hand on his shoulder.

-Tell me your story, Finn. What were they executing you for?

Finn knew who Poe Dameron was. He had heard about the Dameron family many times and in many different ways in his village. Some called them criminals while others―though more discreet―called them heroes. Even if Naboo was so far away, the notoriety of the Resistance found its way to him. Unfortunately, heroes didn’t have that long of a lifespan in Arkanis.

Here I am, making small talk with a Big Deal in the Resistance. His family fought Lord Vader’s tyranny until their last breath, and I just stole a rabbit on the king’s property.

Poe could sense Finn’s embarrassment. He wondered if he was ashamed by his so-called crime.

What could it be? I did hear that Arkanis is not the most tolerant place. They even execute people out of their attractions. Could it be…?

He decided he did not want to make Finn uncomfortable, especially after all he had been through these past few days. He patted his shoulder to cheer him up.

-It’s okay, Finn. Just get some rest.

Finn was relieved that Poe did not insist. He sighed, nodding. Eventually, he would come up with a good lie about his crimes later. Something more heroic.

Looking at the fire, his thoughts wandered. Were his saviors alright? What would happen now? To him and everyone else, it seemed like a crucial moment, a time of big change.

***********************************************

Kylo Ren’s sword was dripping with Brendol Hux’s blood. The king was lying on the ground―cold, dead. Under his body, a red ocean began to take shape. The pouring rain diluted the color, but Brendol Hux kept bleeding. Kylo had killed men before, but he couldn’t look away this time. Staring at the corpse of the king of Arkanis, Kylo felt sorry for himself. He did not just kill Brendol Hux, he had also sterilized the seeds that could have grown into something beautiful as he put an end to the attraction between him and Brendol’s son. He had sacrificed the potential of a strong bond with Armitage Hux, like the inexplicable spiritual connection he felt a moment before he pierced the body of Armitage’s father. For an instant, he could have sworn that Armitage was above him, watching him silently. At that moment, Kylo had felt they were both experiencing the same sensations―a mixture of wrath, eagerness and fear. He was unable to determine who contaminated the other with these emotions, as everything overlapped.

Then, he killed Brendol, and those feelings exacerbated as all was overcome with acute sadness. As he removed his sword from the body, he felt disgusted with himself. It felt unfair, and he knew this came from Armitage’s thoughts.

His life was not yours to take.

I will never forget that.

-I’m sorry, Kylo whispered sadly.

In the end, his mother was right about him. She was right to worry about his presence here. But something had brought him here. A silent voice whispering at his ear, and dreams he could never remember. Something pulled him to Arkanis. His destiny was awaiting. He had always thought he was destined for Greatness, and so he could not resist to follow a path traced before him that promised it. He stared at Brendol’s body, then at Leia. She was safe, standing in the middle of corpses, but the look she gave him was heartbreaking. He knew what she was thinking as well.

She saw Lord Vader in him, the one she defeated. The one she feared he would become one day.

Kylo refused to succumb to despair, and decided to take pride in it. All of it. Admitting his failure would have been too painful.

Kylo pointed to Brendol’s corpse with his bloodied sword and said,

-This country is now free of his tyranny! Let it be known that Kylo Ren put an end to his dreadful reign!

The survivors among the fallen Arkanis soldiers were at a loss. How should they react when their peers had been butchered in front of them by Ren and his followers? Their ruler, who was to this day the most terrifying being they knew, had been brutally slaughtered with haunting simplicity. Who were they supposed to obey, now? And where was Brendol’s heir? Kylo’s own mother, who was far from easily disturbed as someone who had spent most of her life on the battlefield, was speechless.

No one could tell who had the upper hand in this situation among what remained of Arkanis’ castle. In fact, no one had.