Chapter Text

Waking to find herself in a hammock inside dusky quarters, Rey assumed she was back on the Supremacy. Everything she'd experienced the night before had to have been just a terrifying dream—a dream which happened to also be incredibly vivid in memory. Her clothes and hair, as of result from this dream, were even dripping saltwater still on the floor beneath her.

Hux had ordered her to be thrown overboard. But then, to humor himself and the crew, he had requested that she walk the plank. The effort Rey had put in to avoid drowning after she'd jumped was fruitless, pushing muscles in her arms and legs to their limits as she kicked and kicked. Like running a marathon and having no end to the race in sight.

She'd been forced to hold her breath while the current pulled her deeper underwater. After a few minutes or so had passed, she was certain they would explode. Her parents were the last thought to have crossed her mind before her eyes finally closed and the ocean went black.

None of it was real, sighed Rey. Seeing it was the only plausible excuse as to how she'd cheated death. It was just a bad dream. A horrible nightmare.

Until she looked - really, really looked - at her surroundings, and she found that ideology certainly wasn't the case. Perception a bit disoriented, she squinted, discerning the vague details of this new vessel she was on.

Narrow gaps and holes in its framework gave daylight access to the dark chamber. Above her in the rafters dangled seaweed by the bundles with skeletal remains of small fish tangled in their snare. Interesting.

Amid the barnacle colonies up there were white tubes with scarlet, worm-like creatures protruding from their hollow ends. Some no bigger than Rey's hand, fingertip to wrist; others fairly longer. That's interesting, too. Those things didn't normally live on a ship or land, but at the bottom of the ocean around the hydrothermal vents.

Inhaling through her nose, she noticed the air had a distinct smell to it: fishy and salty and a trace of sulfur. It was so potent she could almost taste it on her tongue.

Where in the hell am I? she wondered, unable to pinpoint how or when she'd come aboard this particular vessel. There hadn't been any ships in the area when she jumped—none that she was aware of, at least.

Unless...

"No." Rey snorted, then palmed her eyes. Clearly, all the saltwater she'd consumed earlier was making her crazy. "Totally, absolutely, no—."

"Ay, you're awake," the voice belonging to a man softly rasped. Rey felt her heart was going to burst out of its cage. Craning her neck, she saw the young man sitting beside her hammock on a stool, his back hunched over, a dark pine Henley with rolled-up sleeves covering his bronze skin. Half of his handsome face below a black bandana was doused in sunlight, wet curly hair glistening under its luminosity. And what remained hidden from her view was shrouded in darkness.

With the light side, he gave her a tight-lipped, lopsided smile. "Was beginning to think you were gonna sleep for the entire day."

Who are you? How did I get here? Her mouth was failing to keep up with the questions her brain wanted it to ask. It didn't help that her chest felt like she had an elephant's ass planted on it. "Where am I?" she breathed.

"Someplace—." He paused and bit his bottom lip, forming a frown between his brows. Did he not know either? Rey was about to ask but he beat her to the finish line. "Someplace safe."

Oh. Rey scoffed. She'd expected him to say he was a prisoner here, or suggest that she run away whenever they reached the next island chain. However, the sadness in his tone spoke for those unspoken words. Whatever the impending thoughts were in his mind, he didn't say.

Regardless, he seemed nice - very, very nice, actually - if she were to be perfectly honest. All good looks cast aside, though, not wanting to deem herself a shallow person, he looked like somebody she could trust. In a way, he reminded her of Finn.

"Do you remember anything?" he asked, quirking an inquisitive brow. "Your name? Where you're from?"

One thing which surprised Rey was his apparent disregard of the fact that she was a woman. Realizing this made her feel less on edge. The faint grin she was wearing grew a smidge wider as she carefully positioned herself further upright in the hammock. "Rey. I'm Rey."

"Rey," he parroted. Appearing satisfied, he nodded. "Nice to meet you, Rey. I'm Poe. I must admit—finding a damsel in distress doesn't happen that often here at sea."

"I don't normally make a habit of it," she scowled. 

"Yeah. Well, one man's trash is another man's treasure, right?" he winked. Rey felt her cheeks blush crimson. "I wish I could say I'm surprised. But since this is Armitage we're talking about—can't say that I am."

"You know him?"

"Everyone knows Armitage Hux."

Frowning, Rey stared at the worn, leather boots on her feet and folded her arms. "I wasn't working for Hux, per se. I needed passage to the new world and someone from the crew solicited his help." At the mentioning of Finn, she wondered if her friend was okay. She recalled noticing the sheer terror in his eyes before stepping off the plank.

Would she ever see Finn again? Probably not.

"America, huh?" remarked Poe. "What sort of business does America have to offer a young British girl like yourself?"

Freedom and wealth were excluded directly off the bat. The riches she sought were far more precious than anything found inside a gold mine. "My parents...We were traveling there, but I was left behind by accident on Jakku." An idea suddenly occurred to her. Tilting her chin, she glanced expectantly at Poe. "Could you help me?"

The disappointment on his profile had Rey thinking if she had asked him to sacrifice his firstborn for some hokey religious offering than for transportation to America. "Unfortunately that's not a decision I can make," he said. "I'd have to take it up with the captain first."

Of course. "Don't tell me he hates women too," she groaned, eliciting a derisive snort from Poe.

"On the contrary," he smirked. Leaning forward in the seat as Poe propped his elbows on his knees, clad in muddied brown slacks. "Though I'm not so sure it would change your opinion of him if he did offer his help."

A slew of questions in her head regarding Poe's comment was silenced by an orange and white creature dropping from an above rafter, onto Rey's midriff. Initially startled by the lean and leafy creature gaping at her for a minute, the scream lodged in her throat gradually worked its way out.

"Bee-Bee!"

"What is that thing!" Rey shrieked, toppling to the ground and onto her feet after the creature lept to safety on Poe's shoulder. She felt for the dagger she'd placed within the top hem of her trousers but discovered it was missing. Damn it!

"No! No no! It's okay, he's with me," Poe frantically assured, his ten fingers splayed in front of him. Standing, begging her to stay calm, the deformities half-masking his complexion now bathed in golden sunlight. Noticing this, mouth open, eyes wide as a lemur's, Rey was physically incapable of utilizing words to express her shock.

"Rey," he swallowed thickly. "Please, don't freak out. I just-I was going to tell you. You had a rough night and I didn't want to throw everything at you all at once."

Try as she might Rey was unable to tear her eyes from the starfish and barnacles lining Poe's face. His words were a static noise inside her eardrums. Her pulse accelerated as the implications sunk in. Monsters. A ship composed of ocean matter. Its crew cursed and undead. "Y-Yo-You're—."

"Cursed?" Poe finished. Nodding, tentatively, his hands lowered. "It's okay. You can say it."

Rey blinked and slowly started to pace. In her head, she had ' this can't be real this can't be real' swiftly set on repeat. "Thi-This," she pointed a finger to the wood floor on the move, " this is the Silencer?"

Poe nodded. The tension brewing behind her temples worsened. Not only was she on another pirate ship, but she was also on a cursed pirate ship. The Silencer wasn't a legend nor a myth - it was real. Her body shuddered as a cool draft swept through the room.

"I uh—I brought you some fresh clothes earlier." Poe's confession was apprehensive, as if unsure of how she'd react. Hugging herself and pressing a hand flat to her chest where the compass usually was, Rey scoffed at the clothes wadded-up in a hammock beside the one she'd been resting in. "They're uh—They're a tad on the damp side. But they'll serve you well at least 'til yours are dry."

"My compass!" Rey stopped instantly in her tracks when she realized it was missing and glared at Poe. "I had it on me last night. Where is it?"

Poe shared a look with the creature perched on his shoulder and it—smiled? Nervously? "It's...safe."

"It's mine," Rey hissed as she sauntered closer to him, clenching her fists and hugging herself tighter. "I need it. Where is it?"

His mouth opened but then closed right away, carting his lips into a hard frown.

"Where is it?" she repeated in a sharper tone.

Biting his lip, Poe looked at the ground as he folded his arms. Drawing in a breath, he whispered, "The captain. The compass is with the captain."

Forgetting where she was for a second, Rey took a few steps closer to the pirate so when Poe lifted his eyes, they met her piercing hazels. "Take me to him."

**

Poe wasn't so quick to bend at Rey's request. If Kylo Ren was anything similar to the stories she'd heard about him on the Supremacy, she was prepared to face whatever reality had to throw at her. She had a decade alone on Jakku to thank for gifting her a thick head and skin.

How bad could the squid face be to talk to? Besides...

"I'm talking to you just fine, aren't I?" challenged Rey, crossing her arms and jutting her chin high. Poe flinching had her thinking the phrase had come out harsher than she'd intended it to sound. As if the man were as much of a creature as the gnarly critter roosting on his shoulder. Her mouth opened to apologize but was quelled by the pirate's retort.

"Ren is nothing like me, Rey," Poe solemnly explained. "Or the majority onboard here for that matter. The curse affected us all differently. And he's..."

"So he's moody." Rey shrugged.

"You have no fucking idea," he grumbled.

The pirate finally caved to her demand after some coaxing on Rey's behalf, advising her to stay close while they strolled across the main deck to Kylo Ren's cabin. She asked Poe why, and his response was a simple you'll see. A smirk following the ominous terms.

It wasn't until they set foot on deck when she understood what Poe had meant.

Stories hadn't done the magnitude of its size justice. No ship she'd ever seen at the docks could ever come close to scraping the surface if she was to compare the Silencer to another. Reaching high into a bright, cloudless sky were magnificent large sails made of seagrass than the usual white canvas. Fraying hems billowing in a gentle breeze.

The crew, however, wasn't as enchanting. Like the entire ship had sunk and brought an assortment of creatures up with it to the surface, albeit grotesque and mutated to the extreme. Some members favored a single aquatic species; others grafted of different features. A sea turtle head and flipper here; human limbs there. Another's head completely detached itself at the neck and turned to face her as Rey walked past.

No, not just any noggin, but the entire body - legs, shell, and all - of a hermit crab formulated the pirate's head! It took every ounce of self-control for her to not vomit what food was left inside her stomach.

And all of them were muttering the same exact phrases amongst themselves. It's a girl! Is she the one?

Too focused on escaping as her pace quickened, Rey crashed into a crew member blocking her path to the captain's quarters. She began to say sorry, believing him to be Poe till the figure spun on a bare heel. He was undeniably the worst pirate she could have run into there.

Blistering the pirate's naked torso at random were engorged sacs filled with a jelly-like substance, a larger abscess significantly compromising half his face with long, slender vines draping a severely decomposed body. "Oooooooh," he crooned. "Pretty!"

"Poe!" Rey screeched at the top of her lungs, desperately wishing she had stayed close to him than ogling at the scenery. While swiftly taking a few steps backward she nearly lost her footing on an elevated floorboard and fell before a strong hand firmly seized her arm. And those who lingered nearby went deathly quiet.

"Capeetan," the pirate Rey could only refer to as a horrifying jelly man mumbled slowly.

"Since you're apparently not busy, I have a few tasks in mind that would keep you entertained for awhile," advised the deep baritone timbre of her savior's voice. Aside from the fact she had heard him speak, the first detail she noticed about the pirate who had helped her was the soft sage in his hand's pigmentation.

She had not expected him to be the notorious Kylo Ren.

Tales regarding Ren's appearance hadn't deviated far from the truth. Except he was definitely taller - much taller, in fact - bigger and broader than she'd anticipated as she steadily rose to full height beside him. The sooty tricorne hat on his head adding inches atop his towering height. Despite carrying the semblance of a squid, his voice was astonishingly rich and swoon-worthy. It awakened things inside her she immediately wanted to bury six-feet under dirt.

The jelly man apologized incessantly and excused himself without further word from the captain. Only then did Ren loosen his hold on Rey's arm and let her go. For some mysterious reason, beneath her layered coat and tunic, her skin tingled and burned as if he was still touching her.

It bothered her more than she cared to admit.

"You'll have to forgive their crudeness. It's been years since they've needed to use decent manners."

Ren citing the affirmative drew Rey's attention to the captain. How she saw him staring at her was baffling. Above the wriggling cephalopod appendages and plush lips were bourbon eyes with a shade of honey dappling their irises. For a pirate bearing such an abhorrent reputation, she found there was no malevolence in them as she looked closer but instead saw pools of immense anguish and despair.

It made him look less of a monster and more human; which was a miracle of its own. She should have been appalled by him. Should have been.

So why in the fuck wasn't she?

"Captain Ren! Captain, I uh—Oh!" Approaching at the captain's left, seeing Rey, Poe laughed nervously. "I uh—Never mind. I see you already found her."

Positioning his back toward Rey, all tenderness in Ren's voice vanished as it fell menacingly low. Snarling. "I thought I had made my orders quite clear for you last night, Dameron."

"Well, they were but—."

"It's not his fault!" Rey blurted out, her fingers just barely grazing the navy, barnacle-embellished fabric on Ren's sleeve. Snapping his head from Poe to her she saw that his eyes were now black. Lifeless and predatorial. That was the Kylo Ren she'd been waiting to see and yet she stood unafraid. "It's not his fault. I gave him no choice and demanded to speak with you."

The declaration puzzled the captain. Initially wordless he then cut Poe a sneer. "She gave you no choice? Since when do the orders of a subordinate trump a captain's?"

Blood simmering, Rey had to bite her cheeks to refrain from spewing slurs at the captain. Sunlight catching the silvery blade of a sword holstered at Ren's hip reminded her she preferred her head attached to her shoulders. Or his massive claw that could easily sever her neck's vertebrae, whichever tickled his fancy most when killing. He was undead. Immortal. And she wasn't.

Irritated, he growled. "Very well then."

Rey tilted her chin up and met the captain's softening gaze. His head briskly motioned her to follow him to his cabin. Even if she was still fuming she obeyed him without quarrel. This time, she stuck close to her escort, legs working twice their normal speed in order to match his long strides.

Envisioning bones and skulls of sea creatures littering the floor she dreaded going inside as Kylo chivalrously gestured his hand for Rey to enter first. It wasn't too far off from the pictures her imagination had shown her, though it wasn't necessarily unbearable either.

Taking small steps inside Ren's chamber, her eyes swept over its morose interior. Candles were lit by the dozens on shelves, trunks, and tall free-standing pillars alongside a desk. Seaweed was caked on the walls and draped in wet chunks. The air reeked of musk, fish and grimy ocean residue. At the rear, stationed in front of a steeple-framed window, was a pipe organ, additional pipes of gargantuan size flanking the musical instrument in tiers.

Did he play that? she mused.

"What do they call you?" asked Kylo, passing by to her right and casting a fleeting glimpse at Rey.

Rey blinked, his voice reminding her that she wasn't alone. "Excuse me?"

Ren halted a few paces in front of her. "Your name," he stated, matter of fact.

"Oh, um—Rey." She nodded.

"Just Rey?"

Rey considered him. Not even the first real friend she'd had in her life had known her true identity.

And yet...

"Turner," she said, folding her arms. Ren's mouth twitched.

"Well, Miss Turner," Kylo's stance reflected Rey's then, his right knee cocked. "You said you'd wished to speak with me. I'm listening."

Rey took a breath, fearing his answer. "Am I your prisoner?"

Ren's head shook no. "I'd prefer the term guest, but no." He frowned. "No, you are not a prisoner here. And you are free to come and go as you wish."

His response sounded sincere. Rey shut her eyes and sighed in relief. "Okay, thank you."

"Is that all?"

Her head shook then swallowed thickly. "No, I was—I was hoping you'd help me."

Ren quirked a hairless browline, intrigued. "Go on."

Here goes nothing. "I was on the Supremacy because I needed transport to America. My parents," she winced, "last I knew they were headed there. That they were there and I wanna find them."

He regarded her pensively. "And now you need my help."

Rey nodded, her expression hopeful. Ren just seemed amused. "You are aware that the Supremacy was traveling East?"

Rey scoffed. What did that have to do with her proposition? "Uh—yes?"

"So you know going East would have brought you to the European settlements then."

Her spine bristled, scowling. "That's impossible."

"I've covered every square mile of ocean from here to the panhandle for the past ten years. I can assure you it is not ."

"Liar," she seethed. He was certainly going to have her head for lashing out, though it was hard telling considering his tone and expression never went beyond impassive. "The compass that you stole from me led me this way! Why else would it lead me East, while who I want to find is somewhere else?"

Ren grimaced, his tone breaking its callousness as he quietly said, "And did it ever occur to you that perhaps what you want and what the compass knows you truly desire are two very different things?"

Her fingernails drew blood from her palms. She needed to get what she had come for and be gone. To forever be done with the Silencer and its crew and its confounding captain Kylo Ren. "Just give me the compass. It was given to me and I want it back."

This piqued Ren's curiosity. "By whom, may I ask?"

"That's none of your business," Rey hissed.

Finally, the apparition of a smirk appeared on his lips. "In that case, I'm afraid we are done here, Miss Turner."