It was that dream.
The same dream he'd had last night and the night before and the night before that.
He lived in that dream.
He was in a snow covered forest, the cold was crisp and biting but the air was still, the tall trees encircling him, unmoving. The stars above him in the night sky, twinkled down at him.
Whispers surrounded him
"There has been an awakening"
He shivered.
"Have you felt it?"
Then, a flash of light broke through the darkness. He walked forward to get a closer look, but the more he moved, the farther away the light seemed. So he stopped and strained his eyes and this time he saw something he hadn't seen before.
There were two people, the dark outlines of their figures prominent against the midnight blue of the sky. They faced each other, the light spitting and pulsating between them, illuminating the snow around them. But he couldn't see their faces.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled and he stumbled backward, grabbing on to a low hanging branch. The light disappeared along with the two figures and the forest had once again fallen into darkness, but the earth continued to shake violently and cracks began to form underneath his feet. Then, the ground split open revealing a fiery, molten core and then he was falling, falling into the sweltering, blinding depths.
Then, darkness enveloped him again and someone was calling his name, but he couldn't answer, he couldn't even move.
He was restrained
And in the shadows, something was lying in wait, crouching on the hard, cold floor, waiting, waiting to pounce on him.
"Sayer?"
He tried to move again, but he couldn't
"Sayer, wake up!" A voice called
He was jolted awake. Sweat was dripping down his neck, his back and his clothes were sticking to him. A woman gripped his shoulders, her brown eyes alarmed and fearful, and her chestnut hair wild around her pale face.
"Wake up darling, we have to go now!"
Sayer raised himself on his elbows
"What's going on mom?"
He watched as his mother wiped beads of sweat from her forehead with quivering hands.
"Get changed" She said, as she raised herself from where she was perched on his bed, a sense of urgency in her voice "We're leaving Takodana"
As the Millenium falcon made the jump into hypersapce, Sayer turned to watch his mother who had relaxed into the pilot's seat, distracted.
He waved a hand in front of her face
"Mom?"
She turned to face the boy in the co-pilot seat. The big dark eyes that looked back at her were questioning, concerned but also familiar and reassuring.
"What's going on mom, where are we going?"
She sighed.
"I'll tell you when we get there" she reached out and stroked the boy's hair
The silence that followed between them was soon broken by the sound of the buzzing intercom.
"Can you hear me? Is anyone there?!"
"Grandma!" Sayer cried, leaping forward "How are you getting us in hyperspace?"
"I got another transmission" The voice said
"Is it them?" The woman asked, fear and excitement evident in her voice "are they alright?"
"Mom, you heard from dad and Zander?" Sayer asked, looking at his mother, his eyes wide
"I don't know, I honestly don't know what it is..." the voice on the intercom faltered
The woman straightened
"General, can you give me their location?"
"No, you can't go out there alone!"
"General, that's my husband and child out there!"
Is Sayer with you?"
"Yes"
"You can't take him with you, it's too dangerous!"
The woman breathed in deeply. She would do anything to keep her family intact.
"If we die at least we'll all die together" She remarked
"You're forgetting, I've got Kaia"
"Take care of her for me general" The woman responded
Sayer watched his mother, heart pounding. Her eyes had filled with tears and her lips were quivering. Something bad had happened to his father and brother. He hadn't seen them in months and his mother wouldn't tell them where they had gone or what they were doing. He had begged to go with them, but to no avail. Their father never stayed in one place, he was constantly moving from planet to planet and they could meet him only in secret. Sayer wondered if he was hiding from someone.
"Alright, I'll transmit the location to you" The voice on the intercom finally gave in "But please bring my grandchildren back safely!"
"Don't worry grandma, mom can handle anything!" Sayer shouted into the intercom, excited at the prospect of adventure and fearful at the thought of what he might find when adventure came to him.
A bleep on the monitor in front of them told them that the general had sent the coordinates and they gazed at them longingly.
"Where are they mom?"
The woman swallowed
"They're on Jakku" She said quietly, a frown creasing her brows
"Jakku? Why would they go there?"
"We'll see" she said simply "Hold on"
As their ship broke through the planet's atmosphere, the woman leaned in to get a closer look.
Jakku looked just as she had remembered it those many years ago, and it was hard for her to forget. Her son looked on with her, although there was nothing to see but sand stretching out for miles in front of them.
"So how do we know where dad and Zander are?"
His mother glanced back at the monitor
"Your grandmother got a transmission from their ship and if we keep going north we just might spot it"
Sayer craned his neck
"Maybe we should fly lower" he suggested
They flew for what felt like hours to Sayer, and then he spotted it. Smoke was rising from behind a sand dune.
"There!" he cried and his heart sank as his mother flew over it and they both looked down to see the wreckage of a ship.
"It crashed?"
"But they must be alive" His mother's voice was hopeful "they sent that transmission"
She lowered the ship and as soon as they'd landed, jumped out of their seats and ran out into the heat of the Jakku air. Coming out of the dark interior of the ship, they had to shield their eyes from the blinding sunlight.
They stopped dead in their tracks
Sayer grabbed his mother's arm
"Scavengers" She breathed
There were about five or six of them, stripping the ship of metals and devices as they watched.
Signalling for her son to stay behind, she walked forward, unhooking something from the belt on her hip. She held it out in her hand and ignited it. It was a lightsaber, double edged with pure white blades that seemed almost translucent in the sunlight.
The scavengers, noticing them, walked forward. They all wore thick robes and heavy looking head gear that hid their faces.
"We were here first" One of them said
The others all flanked him, their weapons ready, preparing for an attack
"I'm not interested in the ship" Sayer's mother called "I only want to know If there was anyone inside when you got here"
"It was empty" another scavenger spoke, a woman this time "There was no one here when we arrived. Nothing, no blood, no bodies"
Sayer breathed a sigh of relief, but his mother wasn't satisfied
"I want to see for myself if you don't mind"
The wind was blowing hard around them, and Sayer could hardly hear his mother over the sound of sand blowing in the wind, hitting the side of the Falcon. He squinted to get a better look at the scavengers.
They had raised their weapons and were pointing it at his mother.
"This is our ship now!"
Sayers mother lifted her lightsaber above her head and twirled it, her face furious.
The scavengers stepped back collectively
"You know, we can avoid a whole lot of pain and trouble if you just let me take a look inside. I won't take anything, I'm not interested in parts"
They looked at each other
"Who are you?"
Sayer watched as his mother's back straightened and she shouted over the sound of the howling wind.
"My name is Rey, I am a Jedi Knight" She continued
The scavengers looked at each other again
"And what business would a Jedi have on Jakku?!" One scavenger cried
"I'm looking for my husband and my son" Rey answered "This is their ship. It looks like they crash landed here and I just want to find them"
"You won't find them" the female scavenger spoke "It looks like they got out, but you won't find a trail in this weather"
"There must be something on that ship that can tell me why they came to Jakku or where they might have gone if you just let me take a look"
The female scavenger raised a hand
"Alright, five minutes"
Sayer made to follow his mother, but she put a hand on his shoulder
"No, I need you to stay with the ship"
He nodded reluctantly and watched his mother as she disappeared into the wreckage. When she came back out, she shook her head at him, lips pursed. Sayer turned to walk back up the ramp to the Falcon, disappointed.
"Wait!"
Sayer and Rey stopped in their tracks
The female scavenger was now walking slowly towards them
"If you need help finding your husband and child, perhaps we can help"
Rey raised her eyebrows
"We can take you to our dealer"
Rey was sceptical. She didn't trust junk dealers, but this was probably the only hope she had left of tracking down Ben and Zander. She hesitated, weighing her options.
"Alright" She finally said "Take us to him"
The female scavenger relaxed "You can follow us on your ship" she said, before turning to return to her group
As Sayer took his seat at the cockpit, he suddenly realized something.
"Hey mom, didn't you grow up here?" he asked his mother
Her sons question sparked something in Rey, and she could not help but relive the memories of her hardships on Jakku. After everything she had been through in the past eighteen years, the fifteen years she spent on Jakku seemed like a forgotten nightmare. Fifteen years, her whole childhood had been spent on this desolate hellhole.
"I did" She answered softly
Sayer crinkled his nose "How did you manage with all these pesky scavengers? "
Rey smiled sadly
"oh, I managed"