"There's someone out there."

Rey looked up from the maps of the galaxy Luke had given her to study, and stared at the latter in surprise. He was stood in the doorway of her stone hut, turned so she could see his profile, his eyes unfocused. He had felt something change in the force.

"How? We're in the middle of nowhere - how could anyone have found us here?" she asked, a furrow forming between her brows.

Luke closed his eyes, his lips parting, not answering her. He, too, was frowning - but all Luke did was frown. "She's on the shore. She has the powers of one from the dark side."

Rey was on her feet in moments. "I'll go down, Master Skywalker."

Luke nodded, turning away from her. "Bring her to me. Unharmed."

He hadn't even made it down the corridor before Rey had snatched up her lightsaber, hoisted the strap that held her staff over her shoulders, and raced out of the temple.

In moments, she was flying down the many, many stairs leading down to the beach, where the force was telling her the girl was. Wind whistled in her ears, whipping the stray hair that had escaped from her buns across her face. Her lightsaber was ready on her belt, and her face was set like a warrior's.

Any other Jedi would have been filled with hatred for the unknown dark sider. But she wasn't going after her of her own accord. It was Luke who wanted her - she was just fetching her. Even so, Rey wasn't afraid to come to blows with the girl. If she fought back, Rey would fight back harder. 

Plus, if she could take Kylo Ren on, she could take on some girl.

She was ready. This would all be over in minutes. 

When her feet finally hit the sand of the beach and her eyes clamped onto the girl, however, she doubted that would be true.

At a glance, she was young, she was lost, and she was sopping wet. Her eyes were desperate as she stumbled across the beach, and Rey could see that she was growing more panicked by the minute. At a glance, she might have passed the girl off as weak and vulnerable, deciding her master had made a mistake, and would lower her blade with pity and help her.

But the darkness pulsing through the girl's force signature told Rey to do the opposite.

So, slowly at first, she began to run. There was a lot of beach to cover. Her brisk jog gradually built to a run as the waves crashed onto the shore, and then to a sprint. Her arms started to pump at her sides, sand kicking up at her feet and biting at her ankles, her hard stare all the while fixed on the girl.

The girl stumbled about the beach, her arms folded across her chest, appearing to be trying to keep herself warm. She hadn't seemed to have noticed Rey yet. As the apprentice drew closer to the girl, her footsteps light and quick despite her pace, she saw that her lips were parted, and her brown eyes glinted with tears. Her grey tunic and pants clung slickly to her pale skin, her short white hair was plastered to her face, and she was visibly shivering. Rey had to give her credit - she put up a good facade. 

She had drawn close enough to the girl to see the whites of her eyes by the time she spotted her. Letting out a deep sigh of relief, the girl's arms fell to her sides, her eyes locked on Rey. There was no alarm in her eyes as she watched the girl draw closer and closer.

"Thank the Force! My - my ship crashed i - in the sea." She threw a hand towards the wide stretch of blue, her pale throat bobbing. "I had to swim to shore... can you help m -" 

She froze. Rey was closing in, and the girl had clearly got a first proper look at the apprentice's stony expression. Or was pretending to. Most likely the latter. 

"N - no! Please don't hurt me, please!" She cried, holding her arms out in front of her, trembling all over. 

Gritting her teeth, Rey pushed on, speeding up even further. Letting out a panicked cry, the girl nearly tripped over her own feet as she started to back away stiffly, too cold to run, shielding herself with her hands. 

Damn. She was almost fooling her.

Clenching her teeth, Rey locked her gaze on the girl, gaining on her more every second. But the girl wasn't showing a slither of her true identity. She could hear her sobbing in fear, and there was no challenge of one from the dark side in her as she cowered away helplessly. Perhaps Luke had truly made a mis -

Rey felt the pain before she realised what had happened. 

She was nearly knocked off her feet as she collided with the invisible wall of force, and the speed she had been running at didn't help to lessen the pain. Her hands flew to her nose as her face contorted in pain, and a strained grunt forced it's way past her lips. When she lifted her hands away, they were stained with blood.

Her breathing ragged, Rey slowly slid her gaze up to meet the girl's, and her face flickered when she saw that she was smiling.

Then, the girl was on her feet, and Rey's hands were already on her hilt. Just as the girl closed the distance between them, there was flash of turquoise and crimson, and there was barely enough time to blink before the pair's lightsabers crashed together, the sound loud enough to cause a flock of porgs nearby to scatter. 

For a moment, the pair remained quite still, catching their breath and staring into one another's eyes. Panting slightly, Rey suddenly realised how meek and powerless the girl had seemed just minutes ago, how with her now wicked, sly expression, she may as well have been a different person. 

Red and blue flickered and danced across both of their faces as Rey felt the girl's weight as she leaned into her, putting enough pressure on their locked blades to push her back a few inches in the sand. 

A short, wheezy laugh escaped the girl's lips, and she raised her slick eyebrows.

"Had you fooled, didn't I?"

"I don't have to hurt you," Rey said quickly. She stood quite a little taller than the lithe, stockily built girl, making her tilt her head down to look at her directly. That should have made her feel dominant, in control - but it didn't. "Just come quietly, and no harm will come to you."

The girl smirked. "You don't know anything about us First Order folk, do you?"

Then, she suddenly snapped back, and Rey stumbled forwards, unbalanced from the recoil. She barely straightened back up in time, and held back a gasp as she saw the girl's red blade sweep over her head, missing her by a hair's breadth. She ducked as the girl brought the crimson plasma back over her head in a hard arc, and before she could thrust it straight through her chest, Rey leapt backwards, giving herself the advantage for a brief moment before the girl came charging at her once again.

With a stunning amount of drive, the girl brought her lightsaber down onto Rey for the second time, and if the latter had blocked her a moment later, she would have been felled. Steam rose as water dripped from the girl onto the hot plasma blades. Grunting, her white hair swinging about her face, she drew back and slashed at her messily, and again Rey blocked her by the skin of her teeth. 

Again and again, the white-haired girl thrusted out at her, knocking her back, driving her further along the beach as she continually made for her, and Rey continued to barely meet her strikes. At every opportunity, she countered her attacks, but she was always shoved aside and slashed at once more. She felt sweat trickling down her brow, a pit form in her stomach, as she realised that already, she was feeling over powered. 

She realised something she hadn't wanted to admit: she was way out of her depth. She had thought that she could be able to handle herself, but the girl was just too strong. She prayed that she was tiring too, but she was boiling over with reckless, raw energy. 

Rey felt that she should stop holding back, let her emotions drive her, but it was not the way of the light. Her opponent was driven by hate, and though it gave her power, it made her sloppy. She had to take her weaknesses and use them to her own advantage -  strike her down, unfatally, of course, when she accidentally left herself undefended. 

Gritting her teeth, Rey lashed out, but the girl met her easily. Again, Rey jabbed at her, but jarred to a stop as the girl suddenly locked their blades. She sighed in relief at the pause as sand kicked up around their ankles, the sound of the crashing waves masking their panting, and the girl smiled as she leaned into her.

"You're wasting your strength too quickly, Rey," she said silkily, and Rey didn't question how she knew her name. Instead - 

"Who are you? Who sent you?" She demanded.

"You don't need my name," she murmured, and jerked her head in a sharp movement, flicking a damp hair out of her eyes. 

Then, Rey gasped slightly as the girl began to slowly push down onto her blade, forcing her back to curve, her knees to buckle. Not once did her eyes leave her's, or did her drive relent. Rey's effort's to shake her were in vain. 

Rey knew what she was doing. If she managed to get above her, she'd have a vantage point. She'd beat her.

Amongst the growing pain in her calves as she struggled to stay standing, Rey found herself staring right into the girls face, and felt a tug as she realised how young she was. Her face, doused in red and blue light, illuminated her bright brown eyes. She couldn't have been older than eighteen or nineteen, noting her smooth skin, her plump rosy lips, her large, almond eyes. And despite her shock, she couldn't ignore the feeling that she had seen her before.

Rey let out a desperate cry as she felt the unyielding pressure of the force start to push her down towards the sand, and instantly countered by pushing back. Her legs were burning now, and her body was near horizontal. She did her best to convince herself she could push herself back up, but the girl had been right. She had wasted her strength too quickly. 

Rey gave a last push before the girl overpowered her, and her legs gave out.

She slumped onto the sand, feeling the grains dig into her skin, and immediately went to kick herself back up. But she was met by a wall of force, and she was pushed back down again almost instantly. She tried again, adamant that she could shake her opponent, telling herself she could still win. She felt as if she should feel scared, but the adrenaline in her system was driving her forwards.

But when she felt her throat close up as the girl clenched her fist and sealed an invisible vice around her neck, she did start to panic a little.

This was something Luke never could have prepared her for. 

Her eyes widened as she felt her neck constrict, and her lips parted as she gasped for air, wincing at the pain. The sound of the energy buzzing around her ears alone was enough to send her into a panic. 

Doing her best to swallow, a crease formed between Rey's brows as she put all her concentration into resisting - and breathing. 

But already, she could feel her lungs tightening, and even though she was still choking down desperate, painful breaths, she swore the corners of her vision were fading.

No. It's too soon, she thought desperately.

A tear was threatening to spill down Rey's cheek as she finally looked up at the girl, her body starting to shake. She saw how stoic, how calm she seemed, as she towered over her, hand clawed, looking down at her through tendrils of her white hair - and despite the fact that she was rapidly running out of air, she somehow knew that it was all a facade.

So, with her quickly dissipating breaths, she gave one last push - and instead of going for physical damage, she opted for mental. 

She pushed her way into the girl's mind, still running plainly on adrenaline, and what she felt was so...

"You," she choked out weakly, and the girl frowned warily, "You are... so lonely."

There was a pause.

Then, the girl faltered - 

And released her.

It was only for a second, but it was enough for Rey to throw a wave of force towards her, begging that it would be enough to catch her off guard and knock her down. And, by some miracle - it was. 

The girl was launched off her feet, flipping over backwards with her limbs flying, and landed hard a few feet away on her stomach, retracting her blade quickly before she impaled herself with it. 

And Rey, doing her best to contain her excitement for finally getting a win in the fight, and still gasping for breath, held out a hand and swiftly summoned the girl's hilt. It hit her palm, and she closed her fingers around it.

For a few moments, it was quiet. The crash of the sea filled Rey's ears, and she slumped back onto the sand, catching her breath as quickly as possible.

Then, when she looked up, she realised the white-haired First Order girl hadn't noticed her blade was gone; her face was still buried in the sand, her arms quaking as she did her best to lift herself up. 

She was vulnerable. 

Rey had to act quickly.

Forcing herself off her back, she lurched towards the girl with unsteady legs, scattering sand everywhere, hooking both hilts to her belt. Just as the girl had turned her face shakily up to the sky, getting ready for another round, Rey held out a hand, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Then, in a way that Luke had showed her, she flicked her hand and shut off the girl's mind, inducing a deep sleep. The girl slumped to the side without a pause.

Rey stood still for a moment, looking down on the girl's small body. 

She listened to the sea again, trying to sync her breathing with the steady rhythm, still feeling short of breath. That pressure around her neck may as well have still been there.

Then, a conflicted smile sprung across her face. The weight of the twin hilts on her belt marked her first victory. But simultaneously, she couldn't help but remember what she had seen in the girl's mind, and feel a pang as she did.