Chapter 4

General Hux looked out from the Star Destroyer, peering into the clear blue sky of Yucras, which was now occupied with TIE fighters and rebel ships. He trembled with fear at the sounds of the blasts, knowing that this battle that was suppose to be avoided would most likely lead to a rather unpleasant punishment for him, but he maintained his composure. After all, he had a reputation to keep up with as the fierce, strict general he was known to be. Although, he was not the one in charge. Kylo Ren was.

The General's heart rate increased with each venomous footstep he heard, escalating in volume. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was approaching him, for he could recognize those footsteps anywhere.

"General Hux" Kylo Ren uttered. The words carried anger, but his tone remained relatively composed.

General Hux gathered his thoughts, thinking of the right things to say, petrified of what awaited him. "Supreme Lead-" before he could even begin his sentence, he felt himself gasping for air as his feet lifted off the ground.

He was now hovering in the air, slowly being rotated until he was facing Kylo Ren, who had his hand in crushing grip-like gesture. The General squirmed as his face turned bright red. Kylo threw Hux into the wall, resulting in a loud thud that echoed in the room, frighting the workers near by and causing them to stare at Hux and their Supreme Leader.

"You told me the rebels were clueless!" Kylo exclaimed, walking over to the General, enraged.

Hux was on the floor in pain, unable to get up. His back ached and he was still out of breath from the choking. "Let me explain," he begged, coughing.

Kylo crouched down near General Hux, looking right into his eyes, determining if he should take his life right then and there. When Kylo stayed silent, the General took it as a go to justify himself.

Hux gulped, taking note of how dangerously close he was, he said the next words very carefully. "Sir, I made sure the plan to capture the child was classified and have only told very few. I have as to no clue how the Rebellion found out. You must understand that-"

Kylo wrapped his right hand around the General's throat, cutting off his air stream, and pinned him against the wall. "Don't tell me what I need to understand! I should have you killed! Right here, right now!" he yelled, even more infuriated than before.

He released General Hux's throat, letting him fall to the ground. He turned around, pointing at two storm troopers, guarding the exit of the room. "You two," the storm troopers jumped, scared of what their Supreme Leader might do to them after the scene they've just witnessed, "prepare me a ship." Relieved, but still tense, the storm troopers marched out of the room to follow his orders as Kylo followed behind them.

Rey, Finn and Chewbacca eventually reached the stunning village, which was slowly being turned into ruins from the explosions of the current battle. They ran through the stone paths, trying to find the home of this mysterious boy.

"C'mon! The house should be right up here!" Rey said, shouting at Finn and Chewbacca, who were following closely behind her.

They turned the corner, only to be trapped by about 20 stormtroopers. They froze, not knowing what to do. Rey grabbed her lightsaber from bag, and wielded it in front of her, while Chewie and Finn did the same with their blasters.

"Me and Chewie will hold them off. Go get the kid," Finn told Rey.

"Finn-"

"We'll be fine just go. The sooner we get out of here the better," he insisted.

She nodded in response and took off in the direction from which they came. She felt a sense of relief wash over her when she found the house she was looking for. It was small and a bit rustic like the other houses, but was somewhat unique in its own way.

She broke down the door, and walked inside cautiously, not really knowing what to expect. It was empty and dark. The house looked filthy inside, for it had stains on the wall, and debris on the floor. She started to hear sobbing and followed the noise of the cries, which led her upstairs to a room. When she opened the door, she found a woman with black curly hair balled up with her head in her hands.

"Hello?" Rey said, sounding more like a question than a greeting.

The older woman flinched at Rey's voice, and quickly grabbed a blaster from her belt, pointing it directly at the young Jedi. "Who are you? What do you want?" the women questioned, tears streaming down her face.

Rey put her hands up showing she meant no harm. "Please, I'm with the Rebellion. I'm here for a boy." Rey showed the woman the hologram of the boy.

After this stranger scanned the hologram, she didn't say a word, but instead ran up to Rey and threw her arms around her, making the young Jedi jump in surprise. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I was so worried when I saw the First Order arrive. I figured they were after my son."

"This is your son?" Rey asked.

The woman pulled her pulled away from Rey, resting her hands on her shoulders. "Yes. When I saw the ships coming in, I sent him to a hiding place. I figured he'd be safe there until the Rebellion showed up."

The house began to shake, and more explosions were heard from the outside.

"We should move quickly. Do you mind taking me to him?"

"Of course," the women said. They started to make their way out the door, until she grunted in pain, grabbing her side.

Rey wrapped an arm around her for support when she noticed her legs were shaky. "What's wrong?"

"I got blasted from when a stormtrooper tried to break in here. I thought if I put a bandage over it, it would be fine."

Rey helped the woman over to her bed. "You should stay here. It's safer," she suggested. "Where is your son located?"

"He's hidden in a small wooden shack, off the south of the village. Please, take him far away from here."

Rey nodded. "I promise, he'll be safe."

The woman grabbed the young Jedi's hand, looking into her eyes. "May the force be with you," she said softly.

"Thank you," Rey said, before making her way out the room, and exiting the house.

"Be careful!" Finn yelled at Chewbacca, who was battling several troopers at once. He watched as the wookie slammed bodies to the ground and ripped limbs out of sockets.

Finn's eyes widened, suprised by Chewie's battling tactics. "Guess he has it handled," he mumbled.

Fin turned around to the troopers that were coming his way, dodging a blaster shot that almost hit him right in the head. "That was a close one."

He looked at the troopers, noticing more and more were coming in. The amount started to become overwhelming.

"Uhh, Chewie, we should get going to the ship. We're outnumbered."

"Grraaghghgh," Chewbacca agreed. He took off, leaving Fin in the dust.

"Wait for me!" Fin complained, running after the wookie.

Rey followed the directions the woman gave her, leading her to a forest where she found the wooden shack. This shack wasn't exactly eye catching like the other things on Yucras, but it was something.

When she entered the dusty small wooden structure, it was mostly dark, except for a light coming from under a shelf. She looked under the shelf, feeling more relieved than ever, as pure solace cleansed her of her stress. She had finally found him.

The boy was slim, had thick black curly hair like his mother, tan skin, and freckles. The thing that stuck out the most was his ravishing hazel eyes. He sported a filthy semi-white muscle shirt and basically rags as shorts. He was curled up on the floor with a lantern in his right hand while his other hand was wrapped around his legs.

He was terrified, but when Rey entered the shack, her presence soothed him. It was as if he could sense she wasn't there to do any harm. They locked eyes for what seemed to be a while, before Rey finally spoke.

She crouched down some, trying to get closer to the boy. "Hello there," she said gingerly, attempting not to startle the child.

"Hi," the boy said shyly.

"Do you have a name?" Rey asked.

"Gaven. Gaven Symra," he answered. "Are-are you one of the good guys?" he stammered.

Rey gave Gaven a soft smile. "Yes, I'm one of the good guys."

"My mother told me the Resistance were coming to get me. Is she okay?" His face had gone from semi-relaxed to concerned.

Silence filled the room as Rey looked at him with empathy. She didn't know how to respond, and didn't want to worry the already frightened child, so she decided just to avoid the question with another question in attempts to change the subject and cheer the boy up. "So I hear your a force user?"

Gaven looked down at his feet. "Yeah. Well I guess. I'm not that good at the whole force thing yet." He looked back up at her, noticing the lightsaber sticking out of her boot. Immediately, his eyes lit up astonishment.

"You're a Jedi? You're Rey? I've heard so many stories but I'd never thought I'd actually meet you!" he said in excitement.

Rey smiled at the Gaven, happy to see the boy no longer seemed troubled. "I'm sure you'll be a great Jedi one day."

A voice from her walkie talkie broke the conversation. It was Finn.

"Rey, me and Chewie are heading back to the Falcon. We're out numbered."

A new wave of concern washed over Gaven and Rey's face.

She got up from her crouched position. "C'mon, we should get going."

Gaven got from under the shelf and followed Rey out the shack as they started to make their way towards the ship. They were halfway there until suddenly, Rey froze. Gaven looked at her with confusion. She sensed a dark presence, filled with anger and hatred. Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest and she quickly grabbed her lightsaber from her boot, and wielded it before her.

Gaven started to sense the presence too, making him feel uneasy. A dark figure appeared from behind the trees. Kylo Ren. Gaven began to quiver with terror. He had seen the merciless Kylo Ren before, but only in his dreams. Now here he was, standing in front of him.

"Give the boy to me," he demanded.

Rey grabbed Gaven's hand tightly, guiding it behind her. "Stay behind me," she whispered.

"Ben, don't do this," Rey begged.

That name. That name didn't mean anything to him. It just fueled him with fury. "If you won't give me the child, I'll just have to take him from you." He turned on his lightsaber, letting its fierce red color pour out, making its usually staticky sound.

"Rey!" someone called out in the distance.

She turned around, thankful that Chewbacca and Fin had conveniently found her. She looked down at Gaven. "Go with them. They'll protect you." He nodded and ran off to the wookie and the ex-stormtrooper.

"Take him to the ship!" she shouted towards Fin.

"But Rey-"

"Just go!"

"I can't leave you here!"

"The mission is to take Gaven back to the base safe and sound. Now go!"

Fin hesitated, unsure of what to do, he looked at Chewbacca. "Chewie, look after the kid, I'm going after Rey." Just as Fin was running after Rey, Kylo lifted up his hand, making a massive tree fall in front of him so he would be unable to help her.

"Shit," Fin muttered.

Kylo ran towards Rey, clashing his lightsaber against hers, thus, marking the beginning of their skirmish. Fin and Chewbacca watched helplessly, knowing they couldn't do anything to help their friend.

The two skilled force users fought. Their sabers like lighting bolts, brightening the forest with each clash. Each bolt leaving a sound of conflict and pain, seeking to end it all with the down fall of the other foe. Like a complicated dance, they fight, resembling the struggle between light and dark. It was a mixture of beauty, yet terror. Their moves were matching up to each other, neither more powerful than the other. But of course, that had to end.

A thunderous boom echoed throughout the forest, taking Rey and Kylo by surprise. Fire started to consume the trees, surrounding them with flames. While Rey was distracted by unexpected explosion, Kylo took it as an opportunity to strike her. Rey's reflexes took over, enabling her to dodge his saber, but it still left a horrific burn on her right side. She fell back, dropping her light saber and hitting her head on a stone, resulting in a gash at the back of her head. Warm blood running down the back of her neck was the only thing she felt before going unconscious.

"Rey!" Finn yelled as he watched his friend hit the ground.

"Graaaghgh!" Chewie roared in distraught.

Kylo Ren lifted his eyes from Rey's body over to the two. His eyes made his way down to Gaven and started walking towards them, slowly picking up pace.

Finn's eyes widened slightly and stumbled back a bit as he saw Kylo began to make his way towards them. He grabbed Gaven's hand. "Come on! Let's go."

The three sprinted to the Falcon, with Kylo following behind. Gaven looked towards his village while they scurried to the ship. What was once a beautiful village, was now mostly debris. He felt his heart sink as he watched the sunset above his destroyed home.

Kylo Ren eventually lost their trail, and watched as the Millennium Falcon fly above him. He felt his blood beginning to boil. He was so close to taking the boy, but failed. He retreated back to the spot where him and Rey fought, finding stormtroopers were already in the area, putting restraints on her and dragging her unconscious body to the Star Destroyer. He was going to get that boy one way or the other. No matter what it took.

To be continued...