Chessa paced up and down the rock. It was somewhat difficult for her, given the uneasy terrain and the fact that the rock was so small. That she had not gotten dizzy or fallen over left Uster somewhat impressed.
"Nothing to burn, can't light a signal fire. Don't even know if there'd be any ships to see it anyway." Chessa frowned and placed a hand over her mouth "Kriff."
"You should stop, you're just wasting energy."
Chessa paused, then went back to her side of the rock. She looked around for a moment, before she pulled out a blue ration kit. She walked back to Uster and sat down beside him, opening the kit and inspecting the contents.
"So, I have a few ration bars." Chessa bit into one and grimaced "Which taste awful, by the way. What have you got?"
Beneath his helmet, Uster rolled his eyes "Well, ignoring the fact that I require IV drips, the Empire doesn't give our emergency supplies to TIE pilots. We're typically not expected to survive crashes."
Chessa snorted "It's nice to know that they care."
"Well, that's something you come to expect when you hand out fighters that don't come with shields."
"Great plan, by the way. That decision wasn't poorly thought out or anything."
"At the time, quantity over quality seemed like a good idea."
"And it's been working out real well…for us."
Uster shot Chessa a look that she was sure was a glare. The helmet made it difficult to tell, but she could feel the irritation roll off of him in waves.
"Moving on…any ideas on how we're gonna get off this rock?" Chessa asked as she took another bite of the ration bar.
"There doesn't seem to be much that we can do."
Chessa snorted "You are so defeatist."
"I'm a realist."
"I think you're-Hey!" Chessa exclaimed as a bird swooped down and snatched the food out of her hand.
They looked up. A flock of birds was swarming overhead.
"Birds. We might be reasonably close to land," Uster said.
Chessa whistled and held out her arm. After a moment, one of the flock flew down and perched on Chessa's arm.
Uster stared at Chessa in wonder "How…?"
"I'm very good with animals. Always have been," Chessa replied as she petted the bird.
Uster held his gaze on her for a minute. That was…interesting.
"Hey, you don't have any flimsi and a pen, do you?" Chessa asked, the bird still on her arm.
Uster's gaze flicked between Chessa and the bird "You can't be serious."
"Hey, do you have a plan?"
"Why would I have flimsi and a pen? I don't even have rations, why would I have those?"
Chessa threw her arms up "Well, I don't know! For all I know, they could be giving you death sticks and stuffed banthas!"
As the two settled back into silence, the bird flew off and re-joined its flock, which started to move away.
"Well, there goes that plan," Uster said, looking up.
Chessa shrugged "Probably wouldn't have worked anyway. Message via bird. Crazy."
"Still, at least you had an idea."
"Eh, I'm sure you'll come up with something. Hopefully before I have to eat another one of these things." Chessa motioned to her ration bars.
Chessa didn't notice Uster staring at the food.