A/N : thank you all for your reviews! I hope I can live up to your expectations- here's number 3!
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Her eyes shot open. With her heart still pounding in her chest, she willed her trembling body still. She didn't move to wipe the water away, and instead found herself scouring at the water's source. Jyn darkly wondered if she would be in perpetual loop until all the possible ways for her to die were spent. Is this one of the levels of Hell? Gods, I hope not.
As all the sounds creeped in to her consciousness past the incessant dripping, she sat up, wiped the water from her forehead, and stared at Kennel across from her. Maybe, just maybe, if she smothered Kennel now, there wouldn't be a chance for the alien to kill her in the mines later. As she started to take action on her thoughts, she realized she had no stomach for it. She glanced out of her cell, and recognized that though the feelings from her memories were still poignant, the strength of the memories of Scarif and Eadu and Jehda were beginning to fade. As they started to, she tried to recall them even more. Each memory she tested, and each one started to crumble. One memory hung on, that still held some vividness. The smell of the beach, the solidity of Cassian's grip, the sand in her eyes. She hung on to that memory and awaited the stormtroopers to escort her to the transport.
While the day was the same as before, this particular interation felt slightly different. The march to the transport felt like the sky was pressing down on them. At this point Jyn didn't know what to expect over the next few hours. She could either be traveling to the worksite, only to die in another gruesome way at the hand of Kennel, or she could be rescued only to die at Scarif. Or something new entirely. At this point she was beginning to think that this fate definitely had the sound of a "level of Hell" sort of punishment.
As she was once again strapped into her place in the transport, she kept her head lowered, but entirely on alert. This time, if she made it to the worksite, she was not going to be caught unawares again. But she never made it there.
About halfway through the trip, the transport stopped. One of the stormtroopers stood up and turned to his partner.
"Why are we stopping?"
"Maybe to pick up more prisoners," his partner responded.
This was feeling more accurate to what Jyn remembered. A spark of hope lit, and she raised her head and watched with earnest the events next to unfold. Maybe this wasn't Hell after all.
"I thought we had all of the-"
The last response was cut short by the explosion which tore the back door off. Two blasts fired off through the smoke, and the stormtroopers stumbled backwards and fell, not to rise again.
Emerging from the cloud came a pair of men dressed in worn clothes. One turned to the other, and when they spoke, Jyn recognized the voice. Melshi.
"Which one?"
"Her, over there," the other one responded.
Melshi trotted over to her, "you want to escape?"
This time she nodded because if she spoke, it would have been to say his name. Last time she did something like that, she died at Kennel's hands.
As Melshi unlocked her, a sudden fear came over her. If she went willingly, it would change events, and maybe she'd die some other horrific way on this damned planet. Time to play the role.
The prisoner across from her raised his arms as far as he could and said, "Oy, me too!" Jyn took advantage of the same distraction, used it to kick Melshi into him, and transferred her momentum into grabbing and swinging the spade next to her into the second rebel. Silently, Jyn apologized, and paused to take a deep breath, knowing and bracing herself for what she remembered to be next.
She bolted-
-Straight into K2's outstretched arm.
With little effort, he raised her up and tossed her down like a toy, knocking the breath out of her.
"Congratulations! You're being rescued."
As she lay gasping for the air that escaped her lungs, Jyn couldn't help but smile.
"She's smiling! Melshi, why is she smiling?"
