wide awake
I.
Rey settled in the sand and leaned against the solid underbelly of the AT-AT. Her muscles were tired from the long hours of work. The cooling afternoon air made her arms break out in goosebumps and dried the sweat on her exposed skin. She mechanically ate the rations she prepared. Only a quarter portion that day. Unkar Plutt was a terrible being.
Her eyes roamed the area as she mindlessly chewed. They landed on her helmet and without a second thought she plopped it onto her head. Old memories sparked to life, and with them old feelings burned her heart. She could recall an innocent, child-like wonder at finding the Rebel Alliance helmet. Rey had been filled with glee when she wore it like a royal diadem, crowning herself leader of the historical movement, and pretending to go on missions to find missing Rebels.
In her ten year old fantasies, the lost Rebels she reunited with ended up being her parents. She would embrace them, and they would whisper loving words in her ear and tell her how proud they were.
She watched with disinterest as a starship rose into the air.
A distant beeping followed by a loud shout pulled her out of her thoughts and she was immediately on alert. Rey pulled off the helmet and set it aside before grabbing her quarterstaff and launching onto her feet. She hurried toward the sound in the distance, preparing herself for action despite the aching of her muscles.
"-telling you for the last time, release him!"
"Step away from my droid, human scum."
Before her was a Teedo perched on a Luggabeast speaking angrily at a rather tall human. At his feet was a droid tangled up in the Teedo's net. A spear was pointed at the man's chest, merely inches away from his heart. To her surprise the man didn't seem to be aware of the dangerous position he was in. That or he didn't care, which Rey found foolish. Teedos, in her experience, had a tendency to fight with the other scavengers of Jakku over scraps of metal. She didn't want to know what this Teedo would do to get an actual working droid.
"I warned you."
Rey's eyes widened as the Teedo reared his spear back, ready to stab. She lunged forward, quarterstaff tight in her hands, ready to intervene.
It was with amazement that she watched the man dodge the spear with lightning fast reflexes. Seconds later his hands grabbed hold of the Teedo's weapon and yanked it out of the lifeform's hold. The Teedo shouted obscenities and threats at the loss of his weapon, which trailed off when the head of the spear was pointed at his chest.
He said something to Teedo that Rey couldn't hear before glancing at her over his shoulder. The fierce and frightening look on his face was slowly replaced with a guarded expression.
"Who are you?" He said in basic. She noticed his eyes trail toward her quarterstaff.
"I'm Rey," she said. The intensity of his gaze made her nervous, but she refused to let the stranger see that. Rey glanced at the droid, who was looking back and forth between her and his Master. "I can free the droid, if you'd like. It seems you've got your hands full."
His eyes narrowed a fraction. He stared at her, unblinking. Rey felt goosebumps beneath her covered arms. The way he looked at her made her feel... exposed. Like he could see into her soul.
Finally, he nodded. "I trust you're not foolish enough to kidnap my friend." He turned away from her and focused on Teedo. "Go ahead, then."
Rey released a breath of air and descended the dune. She drew her knife and knelt before the white and orange droid. He beeped at her in what she suspected was gratitude as she began hacking away at the netting. Once released, it rolled out of the net and bumped into his Master's leg.
The man snapped the spear and threw the pieces into the sand. The teedo growled.
"Leave. Now." The man commanded in Teedospeak.
It turned the Luggabeast around and departed in the opposite direction. Rey watched as the unpleasant scavenger disappeared over the dune. Once gone, the droid rolled to the edge of the dune and beeped loudly at the retreating Teedo. The man chuckled at the droid's challenging remarks and knelt down before it.
"I wouldn't provoke him if I were you, BB-8. Oh, your antenna's bent. I'll fix that for you, bud." His attitude was much more pleasant now that his droid was safe. Rey watched as he attached the fixed antenna and smiled. It brightened his face.
"Who are you?" Rey didn't mean to voice the question. She found herself surprised when she got an answer.
"Shwaz," he said, standing to his full height. He motioned down at the rolling droid beside him. "And this is BB-8."
BB-8 beeped at her.
"Thank you for helping my friend," Shwaz said.
"It was no trouble." Rey replied. "It seemed like you had it under control anyway." She looked down at the broken spear at her feet. Splinters of wood were half buried in sand. "I'd best be on my way."
Rey glanced at BB-8 and then gave Shwaz a brief look. "Best of luck," she said softly.
She turned around and began her trek back to the AT-AT.
"Wait!"
Her ears twitched when she heard his footsteps crush the sand beneath. Rey looked over her shoulder to see Shwaz and BB-8 trailing after her. Despite herself, she turned around.
Shwaz stopped before her. That intense look was back on his face. The fading sunlight hit him straight on. His hair was a mess of brown curls she earlier thought were black. And his eyes - her mind immediately brought up the image of the ocean, though she'd never actually been to one before.
"Yes?" She said when he still hadn't spoken.
"Listen - do you have a speeder I can borrow?"
Rey frowned. Subconsciously she stepped backward. "Why?"
BB-8 whistled and beeped. Rey's eyes darted to the droid.
"Secret mission?" her eyebrows knitted together.
"Yes. Emphasis on secret," Shwaz frowned down at BB-8 who let out an apologetic sound.
The answer was simple. Yet, she hesitated in saying the words out loud. It was insane. There was no reason to trust them. It was illogical and stupid. But Rey's gut told her that it was true and they were on a secret mission. They were in trouble. And if she didn't help them... something very bad would happen.
"Tell me what's going on, and then I'll help."
written 1/2018 for funsies, and now posting the chapters I have for Star Wars Day for funsies. Let me know what you think, and May the Fourth be with you :)