Jakku
King Prana and Queen Adah watched their daughter's retinue as it made its way through the gates of the Nima fortress. Standing on top of the high wall, the queen's thoughts wondered to Rey's birthday celebrations that same morning, where she had taken her daughter to a side and advised her against the half hour journey she was thinking of taking to visit the temple of the holy shrines.
"Mother, I'll be fine!" Rey had protested "I'm only allowed outside the fortress once a year so just let me make the most of it. Do you want to keep me locked in here forever?"
"These are dangerous times and we should be taking precautions. Why would you deliberately want to put yourself in danger?"
In the end, the queen lost the argument, and her daughter had happily climbed into her palanquin and was now being carried through the desert with her ladies. The king had insisted on the group being guarded with armed troops, and that at least gave some comfort to the queen.
"Madam, Maz Kanata is here…"
The queen snapped out of her reverie. She had forgotten all about the soothsayer she had called to the palace some days before.
"Ask her to wait in the courtyard, and tell her I'll meet her there"
The lady who delivered the message bowed and left.
The king who had been listening, turned to his wife
"You didn't tell me you invited Maz Kanata"
"You weren't supposed to know" the queen said, smiling at her husband.
As the queen made her way down the sandstone staircase leading into the courtyard, Maz Kanata, who was sitting on a bench, got her feet. She was an old, tiny, fragile looking woman with tribal markings around her large dark eyes and she wore long robes that trailed on the floor as she walked. She walked towards the queen, leaning on her wooden walking stick and held out a wrinkled hand, which the queen took in her own, and smiled warmly.
"Your Majesty" Maz began "it's been so long since I was last here, but nothing in the palace seems to have changed" She looked around the courtyard as she said this.
The queen smiled at the old woman
"Come; let's go inside, you must be tired having travelled so far, I have some refreshments prepared for you"
"No Your Majesty, you called me here for a reason, so let me fulfil my purpose"
She guided the queen by her hand to the foot of the staircase and sighed heavily as she seated herself on the bottom step. The queen followed her, tucking in her long silk skirt as she sat on the step above her. She knew that Maz Kanata was an eccentric woman, but she was a soothsayer, and they were known to be out of the ordinary. She waited for Maz to speak.
"Well then Your Majesty, whose fortune should I be reading?"
"My daughter, Rey"
"Rey? Ah, yes, I remember the last time I was here she was just a baby, barely able to lift her little head. But I think that time I refused to speak about her future…hmmm yes, it was…..murky"
"But perhaps now you can?…" the queen began hopefully
"We'll see, maybe this time the Gods will be gracious enough to grant me a little peak"
Maz Kanata reached into her robes and pulled out a pouch filled with little sea shells. It rattled as she pulled the strings on either side to open its mouth.
"Now, let's begin, shall we?"
As Rey's entourage finally arrived at the mouth of a large cave, which served as the entrance to the holy shrines, she peaked through the hangings around her palanquin to get a first glimpse of the temple. She saw that all the priests and priestesses had lined up outside, ready to welcome her and wished they hadn't gone through all that trouble to make such a fuss over her, but they did this every year when she visited, and it was a sign of respect for the royal family of Jakku.
The palanquin was lowered to the ground, and Rey and Jess climbed out into the sweltering heat. The clear skies meant that the sun beat down on the desert making the day incredibly hot, and the wind was blowing sand in their faces. Rey pulled her shawl around her face and walked towards the high priestess.
Rey's Grandmother, the Queen mother had told her stories about how their people had built the shrines of their gods inside the old sandstone caves thousands of years ago. She'd always admired the rock carvings done by the ancients that surrounded the cave; it made her proud of her heritage.
"Welcome, Princess" said the high priestess, bowing to Rey
With their guard posted at the entrance, Rey and her ladies made their way into the cave. The interior was all polished sandstone and light from the outside and from a natural skylight bounced off the walls and made them gleam, but as they went deeper and deeper into the cave it became darker. The passage became narrower, separating into different pathways, but they kept walking without turning, until they reached a large circular chamber. Light flooded in through a natural skylight, illuminating the golden canopy under which stood idols of the goddesses of the sky and the earth. The magnificent sight made Rey's breath catch in her throat. She and her ladies walked forward, bringing with them their offerings of milk, fruit and gold which were the most valuable gifts they could offer to the Goddesses, with fruit being the rarest and most valuable of all.
As the other ladies busied themselves preparing the altar, Rey turned to jess,
"Jess, help me light the candles and the incense"
After they were done, the whole chamber was filled with the sweet, soothing smell of jasmine and the warmth and light of a hundred burning candles. Rey, with her hands clasped together in front of her chest and eyes closed, led the ladies in a series of prayers and songs, passed down to them from their ancients. Above them, the kind, smiling faces of the goddesses watched and Rey slowly felt as if her soul was leaving her body and leaving the temple, leaving Jakku. Perhaps it was the smell of the incense, or the voices of her ladies as they chanted, everything was peaceful, serene, soothing, just as it should be
But that serenity was broken. The ladies stopped their chanting and looked around, as a member of their guard came storming into the chamber
"Princess, we have to leave now!"
"What is it? Why are you disturbing us?" Rey asked, angrily
"Your Highness, you're in danger. A group of First Order troops is heading right this way, to the temple!"
Rey's heart skipped a beat. She rose from the ground where she was sitting as her one of her ladies screamed and burst into tears.
"Be Quiet!" Rey cried "We cannot show weakness in the face of an enemy attack!"
She turned to the guard. "Gather up my ladies and take them through the back passageway, the priests will show you, the troops won't know about that route and wouldn't think to follow you there"
"What about you my lady?"
Rey held out her hand "Give me your sword"
Queen Adah sat watching silently as Maz Kanata waved her hand several times over the seashells she had scattered all over the courtyard floor. She was growing impatient, but was sure she was going to hear something favourable about Rey, how could she not? Although she had not told her, the King and Queen had been approached by a Prince of the wealthy and prosperous province of Coruscant, who had seen Rey at the spring festival last year and had been struck by her beauty and spirit. They couldn't refuse such an advantageous match, and the Queen had wanted to wait until the night of Rey's birthday to break the news to her.
Maz Kanata suddenly sat up, wiped her eyes and sighed.
"Your Majesty…I'm afraid..I" Maz stuttered
The Queen's jaw clenched
"No, not this time, please tell me something" she begged
At this Maz Kanata's eyes hardened, she sighed heavily
"Very well" she began "Your Majesty, I see something in your daughters future, something great, but dangerous. It is inevitable, and nothing you do can change her destiny"
The Queen just stared, but Maz Kanata went on
"She will not find the belonging she seeks among her own kind or among people who share her faith"
"What do you mean?"The Queen asked, taken aback
"The one whom she will share her life with is a great conqueror, a powerful ruler, born in the North and who will one day descend on these lands and claim them for his own"
Queen Adah felt as if the ground underneath her was crumbling away and the breath knocked out from her lungs. Although Maz Kanata had not uttered the name of the man of whom she spoke, the Queen knew exactly who she meant. Her hands shook as she raised herself from where she sat
"No, that's not possible!" She croaked "how can that be? My daughter is betrothed to a Prince of Coruscant!"
"The Gods work in mysterious ways Your Majesty" Maz said
"No…not the Gods" The Queen turned to Maz " its YOU. You are a liar and a fraud!"
The Queen now raised her voice
"How DARE you come into our palace, and poison us with your LIES!"
"Your Majesty I…"
The Queen somehow managed to compose herself. She swallowed, straightened herself and said in a more calm voice
"I'm afraid I must ask you to leave now"
Maz Kanata didn't say another word. It was not in her nature to talk back to anyone, let alone an angry queen. She gathered up all her shells, and began to walk away, but when she reached the great iron door, she turned back one last time, and drawing herself to her full height said in her loudest voice
"It matters not if you don't believe me Your Majesty, but I stand by what I said. Your daughter's fate is written in the stars and neither you nor anyone else can change that"
Maz took a deep breath and went on
"But there in one more thing. When your daughter returns home today as the sun sets, she will not be in her palanquin, she will be riding to your gates on a horse at the head of her group, with a bloodied sword in one hand and vengeance in her heart and then you will know I have been telling the truth and everything I predicted today will come to pass"
And with that she was gone, leaving the Queen standing, speechless and stunned.
Rey had to make sure her ladies were safe first. They weren't like her. The closest thing to weapons any of them had ever been in contact with were probably sewing needles. But Rey had the advantage of having grown up with five older brothers and a rebellious nature, so she was well trained with a sword, to the great disapproval of her mother.
She managed to avoid them all panicking by assuring them that they would be led outside through a hidden passageway, and now they were being led through it by a priestess towards the back of the temple, and once the light was in sight signalling the exit, Rey turned to the guard who had accompanied them
"Get them out safely"
"What about you my lady?"
"I'll come back I promise"
"But my lady, your father…"
"Do as I say and go!"
Rey turned back, running towards the large circular chamber where they had been praying not minutes before. She halted when she heard shouting and clanging noises and her grip on the sword tightened. She looked into the room and horror and shock swept over her. There were about ten men in strange uniform, gathering and collecting the gold strewn all over the floor. The golden canopy that had sheltered the goddesses had been torn down, and they lay face down on the tiled floor. This was no longer a place of peace and serenity.
A fight was going on outside, presumably between her guard and the other First Order troops and she could hear the cries of the men from the spot where she was hiding. The men, hearing the same sounds, grabbed what they could and rushed outside to join their comrades. Only one of them hesitated near the fallen statues of the Goddess, but then looking around, he too left.
Slowly and quietly, Rey followed them and her eyes filled with tears as she passed the place where she had lit the candles and incense, all of which had been extinguished and kicked aside by the First Order troops. Her tears were blinding her as she stumbled through the passageways and out into the blinding light of the afternoon. The bodies of men lay on the bloodied sand, some dead, some injured. Her guard had followed the rest of the troops on horseback down the side of a rocky hill and the fight was continuing there. The men who had plundered the temple were now riding towards the fight.
Her heart beating fast, Rey looked around and spotted a single horse tied up, but just as she was about to reach it a voice called
"Well, what do we have here?"
Behind her, two First Order troopers on horseback leered down at her. Rey immediately raised her sword in defence. The men looked at each other in surprise and then laughed.
"You beasts!" Rey cried
And with that she lunged forward. Their swords clashed and now she was fighting two men on horseback all at once. They had the higher ground, but Rey was skilled and her attacks were swift and fierce.
She was putting up a good fight, until a kick to her chin caused her to fall backwards onto the ground and Just as she was about to be struck down, the troopers sword was blocked by another. Rey looked up to see that it was Jess, her eyes wild and fierce.
"Jess what you are doing!?"
"I promised your mother that I would stay by your side Princess, and I intend to" Jess answered
The trooper growled
"We're wasting time here; these women aren't the real danger" and withdrawing his sword he turned his horse and galloped off to the fight in the distance. The other however, smirked at jess
"Well, I don't intend to leave without a souvenir" he said and with one swift blow, he unarmed Jess.
Rey tried to grab on to Jess's legs from her position on the ground, but she wasn't strong enough. The trooper had grabbed a handful of Jess's hair and pulled her up onto the horse. He rode off with her struggling at the front.
"No, Jess!" Rey cried as she struggled to stand, her head still spinning. She grabbed her sword and ran to the horse that was tied to a rock. She cut the rope, mounted the horse and galloped off as fast as she could towards Jess and the trooper. They weren't far ahead, the trooper was having difficulty riding fast enough with Jess struggling and screaming and Rey was able to catch up. Now they were both fighting on horseback.
The trooper pushed Jess off his horse. She hit the ground and was still.
Rey's fury burst forth and she attacked even harder this time, but she was tiring fast and the trooper only seemed to be getting stronger and more confident with each minute. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, another trooper joined the fight, and Rey was sure it was over, sure that she was going to die. But he went for the other man instead, and he was just as surprised as Rey to see that sword lifted against him, to cut across his chest. As the horse reared, he was thrown off onto the ground and didn't move.
"He's dead" said the man who had just saved Rey's life. He was the same man who had hesitated in front of the fallen statues of the goddesses inside the temple and now he stood, looking at Rey, but there was fear in his eyes.
Rey ran back to Jess who was also lying still on the ground, but not dead, just knocked unconscious. In the distance, more men on horses were galloping towards them. Among them was Poe Dameron, the head of her father's guard, who had ridden to the temple with her. Some of them immediately circled the trooper, who was still standing with his sword hanging limp by his side.
"That man saved my life!" Rey exclaimed
"He is still our enemy, and now he is a prisoner" Poe Dameron answered
Rey looked up at the trooper
"What is your name?" she asked
He hesitated before answering
"Finn" he said in a hollow voice "My name's Finn"
Later, as they were, gathering up the injured and tending to wounds, Rey stood outside the temple, her loose hair covered in sand and dust blowing in the wind, and her torn robes flapped around her. She was still holding the sword and a trail of blood was making its way down its shaft from a cut on her forearm. Pure hatred was bubbling inside her. The First order had stolen from their goddesses and desecrated the holy ground and it was an act so heinous and unforgivable it made her blood boil.
"Kylo Ren" Rey breathed "You have no idea what you've done"
She bent down and grabbed a handful of sand and as she came back up, she let it slip through her hands and blow in the wind.
"I swear by every grain of sand in this desert and by the blood of my ancestors, that I will avenge you Goddess. Kylo Ren will pay with his life and the next time I step foot in this temple, I will bring you his head"
The Jakku sunset was a beautiful sight, and it was the time of day when the air began to cool and the sky turned almost blood red.
Queen Adah stood on the wall of the Nima Fortress, their city's only form of protection against enemy forces and stared out into the sandy dunes. Her heart was pounding with Maz Kanata's words still echoing inside her head, it was getting late and her daughter still wasn't back. She tried to reassure herself, she was sure Maz was a liar, there was no way her own daughter would have to end up…
"Look!" cried a servant who had accompanied her "I think that might be them!"
The Queen looked on, as If it were a dream and she was dreaming.
Rey rode on a horse ahead of the group, her hair wild about her face, and almost the same color as the sand and in one hand, she held a sword stained with blood.
The Queen felt as if the life was being drained out of her and she was frozen in shock and horror. She just watched on as Rey and the rest of her group stopped near the gates. Rey looked up, and her eyes met with her mother's. The Queen would never forget the animal rage on her daughters face in that moment.
