Jaina looked behind her. The forest! She thought. If she ran far enough into the forest, then hopefully, the only one persistent enough to follow her would be the knight. Taking one last look at Finn and the others, she sped off, hoping that they knew what to do without her.

Kylo Ren pushed himself off the ground with a groan. Looking behind himself, he saw the cracks his body made in the rock from his impact. He then remembered what he was here for and looked in Jaina's direction, only to see her running into the forest. That coward! She thinks she can run from me?! Pathetic. She's not even trying to finish me off, Kylo Ren thought as he allowed himself a moment to recover before running after her. He ignored the throbbing pain in his back; he was trained to.

***

It was hot, same as every other day. Kylo and the others trained outside in the blistering heat, far away from the temple and in the middle of the desert. He was still just an acolyte at the time, a fledgling warrior. They all had to spar with Ravagers with training lightsabers that couldn't even cut through a meiloorun fruit. Meanwhile, the Ravagers used vibroblades and blasters set onto the kill setting. Kylo was covered in deep cuts and blaster wounds and a couple of the other acolytes were already dead.

"Disappointing." A voice spoke up. Kylo glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Master Snoke. "If you were real Knights of Ren, you would've bested these Ravagers by now. Two of you have already fallen and the rest of you don't have long. You lot have nothing to offer me. None of you have the skill to become knights."

A simmering rage that could never be quenched. That scorching, miserable desert was a reflection of the feelings in Kylo's heart. He embraced the burning rage to replace the life he left behind. All in the name of power. He would eventually become a Knight of Ren, but for a long period of time, remained the weakest among them. The others looked down on him with their mocking eyes. I'll show them! I'll show them all! Kylo declared. They doubt me! They judge me to their heart's delight, but I'll show them! I'll become stronger! Stronger! I'll kill the girl! Her Skywalker blood will help me rise high in the ranks! Snoke will finally recognize my abilities! Kill her... I WILL KILL HER!

***

Kylo cried out in rage as he picked up his speed. His blood was pumping and his vision was becoming a red blur. He was tapping into his rage, unleashing it and channeling it into a single goal: kill Jaina Solo.

***

Jaina ran and leaped over various tree roots, vines, and rocks. This forest reminded her of Yavin 4 almost. She remembered how she and the other padawans would often train using obstacle courses in the forest. All she had to do was remember her training and get Kylo as far away from her friends as possible so that-

A scream followed by red light from her right alerted Jaina and out of sheer instinct, managed to block the attack, but it was so strong that it instantly caused her to lose her grip on her lightsaber. It fell to the ground and Kylo raised his blade to strike down again.

"JACEN! STOP!"

Kylo froze when Jaina shouted. Her voice was desperate and breaking. Her eyes were welling up as she looked up at him with a look of sympathy.

"Jacen... you... what... happened... to you?" She looked up at him with eyes of sadness and fear. "You've... you've changed so much. I don't know what's happened to you, but I... I want to help! I want to help you come back home! Everyone misses you and things are just going from bad to worse, so ple-"

"Who... is Jacen?"

Jaina froze. What did... what did he say?

"Who do you think you're talking to? Who did you think I was all this time?" Kylo asked before deactivating his lightsaber and reaching up to his helmet. He placed his hands on both sides of his helmet. A click and what sounded like air being released could be heard before Kylo lifted his helmet off of his head. When Jaina laid eyes on Kylo's face...

The man she saw was not Jacen.

This man had black curly hair that reached down to his shoulders and dark eyes. He looked nothing like Jacen. Jaina knew what her own brother looked like and this man was not him. This whole time, she assumed Kylo was Jacen without taking into account that there are multiple Knights of Ren. It's not him... I... I screwed up. I thought it was him! How can I be so stupid?!

"I'm not sure who you think I am, but let me tell you now: my name is Kylo Ren. Remember that name well. It is going to be the last name you ever hear... Jaina Solo." Kylo turned on his blade again.

Jaina was really holding out hope for Jacen to come. Even before her talk with Maz, a part of her wanted to see him again, to get an answer on why he left, why he hurt her and the others the way he did. All of that hope was wasted on some other Force wielder that had nothing to do with her. She was so blind. Jaina thought back to when she and Anakin first sensed Kylo's presence on the star destroyer above Jakku. How could she not sense that they weren't related? Neither of them had any idea and it was a problem that could've been easily solved if they had just concentrated harder, if they were more powerful!

Jaina looked down at the ground, clenching her fists. Why? Why can't I do a single damn thing right?! Why didn't I try to sense that this was a different knight? Jaina thought, even though she knew the answer. She jumped to conclusions too soon. Encountering a Knight of Ren got her hopes up and she was blind to the facts and information that all Jedi knew by now. There was more than one Knight of Ren running around in the Galaxy. Jacen was just one of who knows how many. The one before her right now was just one of many. At this point, getting to Jacen would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

I can't. Maz... what you said about it being my destiny to save Jacen... it's wrong. It's so damn wrong. I could never possibly find him in this large galaxy. How do you expect me to be strong enough to save him when I can't even protect my friends? When I can't even defend myself against this knight before me? You're wrong about me. Everyone is wrong. I'm not as skilled as him. Actually, I have no skill without him. Together, we were unstoppable. Now... it's just me... and I'm nothing.

Kylo raised his blade higher and finally swung downward.

END OF CHAPTER 38