The arrival of the suns did not provide much comfort, but Rey had to admit it was better to worry in daylight as opposed to darkness. So she and Ben sat, sipping caffeinated beverages as Rey recounted everything she could remember about her vision. Even with the newfound clarity, however, they were unable to draw any conclusions aside from avoiding spacecraft altogether.
"Which is near impossible," Ben said.
Rey looked out the tiny window at the desert dunes. "Perhaps it has to do with this place," she said, recalling the stories of what happened to Ben's great-grandmother.
Ben squirmed uncomfortably. He never wanted to travel to Tatooine in the first place. During his reign as Kylo Ren, he'd minimized the presence of Stormtroopers on the planet until they'd been removed altogether. "It's a place of hope," he'd said through the black mask, "And too far away to be of any significance. To waste resources there with the Resistance battling us here would be counterproductive to our mission,"
This reasoning, of course, was why Ben and Rey now found themselves on Tatooine. That, and Rey had shown an interest in seeing the home of her Jedi Master. Ben hadn't wanted to disappoint Rey by voicing his opposition, but now he wondered if he should have spoken up. If these visions really were stemming from the planet, they would have saved themselves a lot of worry and grief if they'd avoided it altogether.
"Look," Ben set down his mug. "We aren't getting anywhere by bouncing ideas around. How about we take a stroll around the market and get some fresh air?"
Rey hesitated. Rarely did they ever venture out in public. But, she reminded herself, they were in the outer reaches now. And should they come face to face with any potentially compromising situations, they could always call upon the Force to momentarily manipulate the minds of their oppressors (unless, of course, their oppressors happened to be Toydarians).
"Perhaps we should," Rey agreed. "We do need to restock before our departure,"
Their budget was minimal and their resources few, but to Rey it felt good to be out in the open world again. Being at a market in the desert also reminded her of Jakku, before her life was inundated with war and politics. She even felt the old urge to scavenge a piece of junk and turn it into something usable. It wasn't long before she found her chance.
"A junkyard?" Ben asked incredulously as Rey opened the large wire gate. "Why would you want to go in there?"
"The prices are cheap or non-existent," Rey explained. "Which, quite frankly, fits perfectly within our price range,"
"Of course the prices are reasonable," Ben said. "Because it's all junk,"
"Just because many consider something to be trash doesn't make it useless," Rey said. "Now, are you coming or not? Or are you afraid to get a little dirt on you?"
"I'm not afraid of dirt," Ben muttered in defeat as he reluctantly followed her. "Let's just start browsing. The sooner we begin the sooner we can leave,"
Shoving his shoulder playfully, Rey began to sift through the metal, trying to analyze the usefulness of each piece. Most of what she found was scrap from speeders. Then, lying in a corner, she found a dome-shaped object with a metal circle in the middle. In an effort to see what use this could be, Rey ran her finger along the circle. Noticing the circle was in fact a button, she pressed it, then recoiled in surprise when the item sprouted limbs and sprang to life.
"It's a droid!" Rey exclaimed as the thing began to walk around. Or at least it tried; its leg wasn't functioning properly, as part of it had been charred and melted away. Still, it hobbled over to Rey, tapping her staff with one of its nubby fingers. Not quite sure what to expect, Rey tried to shoosh it away by gently nudging it with her boot. Now having its turn for surprise, the droid fell comically backwards, only to lift itself back up and inspect Rey's staff again.
"Energetic little thing, isn't he?" Ben asked.
"He is," Rey knelt down. "What are you?" she asked it.
"It's a pit droid," a tan-colored alien with a large mouth said from behind. "One of the salvageable ones that survived the explosion-malfunction at the beginning of last year's Pod Race," Rey looked at Ben to see if he was following what the junkyard employee was saying, but Ben shrugged. "If you want it, he's yours for three wupiupi. These things barely hold any value, even when they're in working condition,"
Rey took another look at the droid, thinking back to the time she saw Teedo with BB-8. The number of beings that had no respect for droids was astounding. Like BB-8, she felt a twinge of compassion for this one. How long had the droid been there, rusting away as he sat unused? There had to be a better purpose for him. Perhaps she and Ben could give it one.
"We'll take it," Rey said, watching as the droid tugged curiously on the cloth that hung around her shoulders.
"I didn't realize they still used wupiupi around here," Ben said as they scouted for a place to eat. "It's not surprising really," Rey said. "Without a strong form of leadership, its no wonder the Hutts control the land,"
"So how much of this currency do we have?" Ben asked. Subtracting the three they'd deducted from the droid (Pit, as they decided to call him), not much was left, unless they wanted to sell more items from their personal inventory.
"Maybe enough to buy a few meals," Rey said.
Ben nodded. "We still have food in the cruiser's frozen compactor. If we ration what we buy today we'll have enough till we reach our next destination,"
Most of the meals served in the market were fairly inexpensive, such as meats from small creatures, stew, and bread. Most of the food was for eating on the spot, but there were also edibles for those who wished to have an instant meal at a later time.
"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Rey gasped.
"What?" Ben peered through the hustle of alien creatures.
"They have portions!" Rey exclaimed. "I haven't had portions in years!"
Ben made a face. "Aren't those bland?"
"Well, yes," Rey admitted. "But they are very filling," She pointed to a vendor selling the packets behind a counter. "I'll pick some up. If we mix it with meat, they will have more flavor,"
Ben sighed as he watched Rey order four packets, wondering if he would ever enjoy a hearty meal again.
