Blinding light and heat jolted Rey out of her unconsciousness. She looked around, finding herself on a desert planet much like her own. In the distance stood two men, one young and one solidly middle-aged, and a boy, and as she got closer she could make out voices.

"…teach him…strong with the Force…"

The vision faded and was replaced by a burning funeral pyre, reflected in the light of the young man's blue eyes as he promised to teach the boy in his Master's stead.

Rey blinked and found herself in an unfamiliar room, watching the boy begin his training and grow into adulthood with his Master. It shifted over and over again, and she witnessed their missions, their failures and successes, their arguments and laughter.

There was a woman, in the later visions, with eyes kind but sad, who sometimes watched the Master and Apprentice along with Rey, and sometimes took part in the adventures. Rey saw her fall in love with the Apprentice, against all odds and council. She watched the Master pretend not to notice for the sake of his friends.

It shifted again, and the Apprentice had become a Knight, still serving with his oldest friend, driving away the clone armies of the slowly rising Empire. She watched his seduction to the dark side, felt his fear and his anger, and failed to notice the hot tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched the final battle between former brothers.

The vision faded to black, and Rey was aware of a pounding pain in her head, but the voices were not finished.

"Rey, you must bring balance. Learn from our failures. It is the only way."

"Hey!" A different voice called to her through her dream.

She snapped to consciousness and sat up, wildly looking around for the source of the voice. Standing over her was a girl, no older than Rey herself, with huge dark eyes opened wide underneath a grey First Order pilot's hat.

She looked back toward the stormtroopers and opened her mouth as if to speak, but her eyes seemed to harden at the last moment. "Get up. I haven't got time to babysit some scavenger if she falls off the bench." The girl squinted at Rey, who looked back at her in shock. "It'll be my head on the chopping block if you get injured on my ship." She turned around and stalked back toward the front of the ship.

Rey eased herself off of the hard wooden bench, acutely aware of the deep aching within her joints from the beating she had taken earlier that day. As she stretched, trying to relieve herself of some of the pain, she felt her head throb, painfully.

It was going to be a long night.

Trying to distract herself from her aching head and body, she rotated slowly, studying the unfamiliar ship and trying to calm the rising panic she felt within herself.

She was on a fairly large cargo ship, either a late Imperial or First Order model. Grey walls and floor, low ceiling. No windows, and only one small light toward the front of the room. Two long benches lined either side, narrow and constructed of some kind of hard black wood. Aside from the stormtroopers standing idly near the cockpit, it seemed deserted. Looking around the bleak interior, Rey wondered where they were going. And, more importantly, what the cargo was. What was her place in all this mess?

Suddenly a flashing red light shone into the gloom, and a metallic voice came over the loudspeaker. "COMMENCING LANDING SEQUENCE. ALL PRISONERS FILE TO THE REAR OF THE SPACECRAFT."

Around her, the walls began to move. Tired, mournful faces looked at Rey from all sides of the ship as women and girls peeled themselves away from the safety of the dark walls and into the middle of the ship. Horrified, Rey recognized a few of them in their sandy rags as fellow scavengers from Jakku. She was on a First Order slaving ship.

Head throbbing and panic blossoming in her chest, she fought against the tide of women, trying to find a way off the ship. She had heard the stories. Even death would be better than working for as cruel a master as the First Order. Backing up away from the ship door, she felt herself bump into something soft. Turning around quickly, she saw that it was the pilot from earlier, who in turn angrily shoved Rey into the throngs of women.

The bay door opened with a hiss and a squeal to reveal a blinding light, and the women were herded off the ship into a nightmare.

Seven hallways, 22 doors, 3 droids, 124 stormtroopers…or was it 125? Did it matter? She counted out of an old habit learned on Jakku, on the prayer that maybe remembering their turns could help her escape from this base. Or whatever it was. It certainly didn't look like any base she had ever heard of. It didn't look much like the inside of the old Star Destroyers on Jakku, either. Things seemed richer. Grander, almost. Wide hallways, silver decorations over doorways, and even the occasional window looking out at a very real, solid planet. At least they weren't floating somewhere in space.

They passed into another hallway. This was eight…maybe nine. Things were starting too all look the same. The group had taken two rights and a left. And another left. Or a right? Rey's head throbbed with each moment, getting stronger the longer they walked.

It seemed like hours later when the frightened women and girls were herded into a large, bright room and locked in. Finally alone, left to their own devices (however temporarily), whispers began to float around the room.

"Where are we?"

"What's going on?"

"Do you see that girl, in the corner? They brought her aboard unconscious…"

"I heard she cheated Plutt and he sent her here as punishment."

"She's hear for the same reason we are! Couldn't do her job. If you can't scavenge, if you have nothing to give the boss, you're nothing."

Rey cringed away from them, turning to face the wall so that no one could see the hot tears beginning to drip down her face. She clutched her bag to her chest, hating herself, hating Plutt, hating the lightsaber for ever calling to her and getting her into this mess. In her misery, she scarcely noticed the whispers still as one voice rang out above the others.

"I was standing close enough to see them put her down. She called out a name in her sleep, to someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi." There was a flurry of motion at the mention of the fabled Jedi knight. "Whoever he was, however important he really was, his name got those troopers pretty upset. They wouldn't even touch her. They made that pilot wake her up."

Turning around, Rey felt the stares of thirty women greet her as she stood before them, just as lost and confused as they were. The speaker, a small woman with glinting eyes, opened her mouth to speak right as the door was unlocked. Another guard stood menacingly in the doorway, his gun dark against his white armor.

"You will follow me."

Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, commented, and read my story so far! I'm so happy that this has gotten such positive feedback, and I hope you all continue to enjoy it! Please comment to tell me what you like, what you think I should be doing better, or even just what you think should happen next (although I have quite a few ideas of my own) :)