A/N: Yeah. I've written some Star Wars. And I've loved every second of it. I got inspired by Caina's "The Prisoner." So check that out. I'm relatively new to Star Wars-at least, the bigger Star Wars universe. Finding out about the EU's ysalamiri, for instance, was a joy. And I recognize that a bunch of the theories in this story and ysalamiri themselves are not canon and some have no chance of being canon. But this is an AU anyway. So deal with it. Oh...and enjoy it, too!

Forceless

Rey felt a grin come to her face as she dipped her Tie Advanced x3 Starfighter into the atmosphere of the planet Myrkr. The forest planet was beautiful from high in the sky—the green and blue briefly made Rey reflect on her time on Jakku, ever grateful that the planet was long behind her. She shook her head of the reverie and focused on the enemy in front of her. The Jedi Finn, in his aged X-Wing, wouldn't last five minutes in a dogfight with her.

With each passing second, her laser cannon fire grew closer and closer to the Resistance member. He wove back and forth, altering his speed, trying to force an overshoot. But for each maneuver Finn performed, Rey countered perfectly. He had certainly improved his piloting since their last encounter—but he was no match for her and her new fighter.

He took a sudden left and burst forward with great speed. Rey followed, and quickly caught up. In his attempt to put distance between them, he'd left his fighter on a straight path, an easy target. She fired her laser cannons once more, and Finn's quick dip to the right couldn't spare the left wing from being blasted apart.

The X-Wing fell out of the sky, falling quickly to the ocean below. Rey overshot the falling aircraft and took her time in looping back around. There were miles and miles of water in all directions Finn would have nowhere to run to.

As she swooped back around, however, she noticed a small island to where Finn had been directing his ship. She quickly dropped her altitude, arriving at the small island a short while after Finn had crash landed. She blasted the X-Wing on the ground, and it erupted into flames.

Rey pulled up quickly to avoid the large crag that took up half of the small island. She slowed her vessel and approached the island once more, needing to confirm her kill. The island, much like the mainlands of the planet, was covered in trees. It took her a moment to find a clearing large enough to set her Tie Fighter down safely.

She shut the fighter down, opened the door and clambered out of the cockpit. Immediately, an odd feeling swept through her. However, focused on her destination, Rey didn't think much of it. She ran after the billowing smoke, rising above the trees. However, she didn't get far before she heard a sickening sound of a lightsaber igniting behind her.

She turned just in time to see Finn lopping off the right wing of her fighter and thrusting his blue blade through the windshield and into the controls of her ship. The ship teetered for a moment, before falling to its side, where the wing no longer kept the fighter upright.

"NO!" she shouted and raced back after him, furious that she hadn't felt his presence and seen this coming. But then she slowed to a stop as she reached out with the Force, only to come up empty. She couldn't feel anything. She reached out desperately with her hand once more to Force push Finn off of her dismantled fighter. But there was no Force for her to control.

She had heard tales of the Ysalamiri on the planet Myrkr, but she'd thought them legends. Small lizards capable of making the Force uncontrollable around them. In large groups, their impact grew mightily. Rey wondered if the whole island would be blanketed in their power, thus removing her own.

Finn leapt to the ground, a crooked smile on his lips. "I thought it was only fair—you took out my ship, I take out yours."

Rey scowled. "You've only just buried yourself," she said, reaching to her hip to grab her lightsaber.

Finn twirled his weapon in his hands carefully, almost experimentally. And Rey knew why. He couldn't feel the Force either, and it caused him some hesitation. She would use that against him. She charged him quickly, red light emerging from her hilt as she approached.

Finn's face grew peaceful as he awaited her, saber raised in the air.

Rey struck out, swinging wide over her head. Finn easily caught her heavy blow with his blade and kicked out at her exposed middle. She fell back, shocked.

Without the Force fueling her, she couldn't perceive his actions—she had grown far too accustomed to the power. She rolled backwards with a grunt and got back to her feet. Finn looked impressed with himself.

"I've already done more than in our last encounter. That's a definite win for me."

Rey scowled at the former Stormtrooper—the traitor. He was treating this like a joke. "You realize you're about to die, right?"

He frowned. "Come on, you can't give me a moment to be proud that my hard work has paid off?"

Rey raised her saber once more. She knew she'd have to forget her training with Kylo Ren, now, and remember her days on Jakku, when she fought with nothing but a stick and grit. "Congratulations, you got a kick off on me."

"Thank you," Finn said, and Rey couldn't tell if he was matching her sarcasm, or if he earnestly thought her comment to be praise.

Rey charged once more; only this time, she was much more measured. When she'd fought off competing scavengers, their weapons wouldn't have killed her with one strike. She was in new territory here.

Their blades met, and a careful dance began. She could tell that Finn was being as tentative as she was, more concerned about the other's attack than their own. Normally, she'd view this as a weakness, and expose it immediately. Now, she couldn't risk going for a killing blow, lest she be left exposed once more.

They moved through the forest around them, using their surroundings as much as their own swordsmanship abilities. Every time Rey thought she'd gained an advantage, Finn would counter her and send her backpedaling.

After several minutes, she began to tire. The sweat on Finn's forehead revealed his own fatigue setting in. Nevertheless, it was Rey who slipped up first—literally. Stumbling over a root in the ground while backpedalling, Rey tumbled to the ground. Finn took quick advantage and swung hard at her saber. Having loosened her handle on her weapon to catch herself, the blade flung from her hand.

Finn stepped slowly over her body, his lightsaber dangerously close to her face. Rey felt her eyes close and she took a deep breath. Her biggest regret was that she was devoid of the Force for her final minutes.

But the end never came, and her eyes slowly opened to find Finn appraising her carefully. "Just finish it," Rey said angrily.

"Not the Jedi way," Finn said softly. Rey scoffed, so Finn added to his response. "It's also not my way. You've been beaten—and if you would have taken just a few minutes to think about it before attacking me, you'd realize that it's not good for us to kill each other."

Rey felt her eyebrows scrunch in confusion as she tried to decipher his logic. "I don't follow."

The blue lightsaber retreated, and Finn instead extended his hand. Rey was too intrigued by Finn's logic to try to take advantage of his weakness. But she didn't take his hand, instead leaning up on her elbows and raising her eyebrows at him. Finn rolled his eyes. "Think about it, Rey. We don't know which rescue party will arrive first. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue for either of us, because we can take on a small rescue group of Stormtroopers or Resistance fighters."

"But we don't have the Force," Rey continued, realization dawning on her. "Killing each other only results in a fifty percent chance of capture." She shook her head. "But we'd just sell the other out anyway."

"Maybe I should kill you then." Finn smirked at her, raising his eyebrows. "I was hoping we could enter a truce—we don't sell each other out and we both live to fight another day."

Rey's eyes narrowed. "How do I know I can trust you, because you sure as hell can't trust me."

Finn shrugged and re-extended his hand to help her up, an irritating smile on his face. "Well, I appreciate the honesty up front. I guess it's a risk we'll have to take."

Rey studied him for a long moment. Her previous encounters with the Jedi consisted only of a brief encounter with him on Jakku, a lightsaber duel on D'Qar, and a dogfight over Bespin. In all three cases, the Resistance fighter Poe Dameron had bailed him out, so her perception of the young man had always been one of weakness.

But this man in front of her was more confident than she'd ever expected, and the smile he kept flashing her alternated between being annoying, intimidating, and charming.

Rey knew something else was going on. A fifty percent chance was not enough to risk her slitting his throat while he wasn't looking. But she had to admit, he was right. She had been beaten, and in an odd act of respect, she wouldn't kill him unless it was in an honest fight. It had only been a year since she had been the scavenger on Jakku, and there was a code that she and other scavengers had lived by. First come, first serve, you didn't steal from another scavenger. She now felt that same code of respect extending into battle.

"How did you beat me?" Rey demanded, still ignoring his outstretched hand.

"I've been training," Finn replied defensively, if a bit lightly. "And I got a little lucky—I mean, I ought'a thank this tree here to tripping you up."

"I've been training, too. And I beat you easily before."

"The Dark Side is quick, easy," Finn responded, serious for the first time. "You use your emotions to fuel your power and command the Force. I have spent months preparing my soul and body to be a worthy vessel of the Force. Naturally, when the Force is gone—and the body is all that's left—I will be the better swordsman."

Rey frowned at Finn, angry that he was using this moment to preach about the Light to her. But she couldn't refute what he said, so she reached out and grabbed his hand. That intimidating smile returned, and he pulled her to her feet.

They stood motionless for a long moment before Finn nodded in the direction of her lightsaber, releasing her hand. Even more confused, Rey slowly backed towards her weapon, unable to believe he would let her reclaim her biggest chance of destroying him.

He observed her, but his eyes were calm, not cautious. She bent down and picked up the weapon, relieved to feel the metal in her hands once more. She turned back to Finn. "I'm not entirely sure what your ploy is, Finn. But I'll be watching you closely."

"I'm flattered," Finn replied, his smile now charming.

A/N: I hope this story finds a FinnRey fanbase. There isn't enough FinnRey in my opinion. So I am adding to it. Hopefully the FinnRey fans out there like this and let me hear about it.