Rey pressed her hands against the cold glass window of the spaceship, seeing nothing but a vast expanse of stars.

She, Finn, and Poe had been traveling for two and a half weeks since their visit to Maz's planet, journeying ever farther into the Outer Rim.

Before they'd left Takodana, Maz had warned them about the planets of the Outer Rim. "Remember, there is no governing body overseeing these star systems," she had said. "So watch yourselves—and each other—closely."

They had so far stopped off on three randomly-chosen planets along the way, and luckily had not run into any trouble. But they also hadn't run into any information about Kylo Ren, or anything about the First Order for that matter.

Maz had sent them in a rather general direction towards the Outer Rim, explaining that if they were going to find anyone with relations to the First Order, it would be in the direction of the systems where most of the recruitment for pilots and fighters was rumored to be taking place.

Rey turned from the window as she heard Poe walking into the passenger's area, lifting his hands into the air. "Hey guys, slight problem. We're getting pretty low on fuel here. Now, we're near a planet I'm pretty sure is called Zephus, so we'll have to stop off there to fill up."

"Zephus?" Finn asked. "Oh, no, we're not going to Zephus. That's known as one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy!"

"Well, Finn, buddy, we are in the Outer Rim, whad'ya expect?" Poe asked.

"You guys always want to go to the worst damn planets. First it was Jakku, now it's this place," Finn said. He turned to glance at Rey momentarily. "It's too dangerous for Rey to go."

"What? I can decide for my own self, thank you," she declared, scowling.

"Yeah, Rey, maybe you should stay on board, watch the ship, you know?" Poe suggested.

"I can't believe you two!" Rey exclaimed, feeling betrayed. "I will not just sit on this ship!"

"Okay, okay, you're right," Poe said, holding his hands up. "I do know that this planet is a hub for illegal black market trading, so we'll definitely have to watch ourselves, like Maz said. Rey, if you're coming, make sure you conceal your lightsaber. Otherwise, that baby will be gone in a flash."

"Of course I'm coming."

"Maybe you shouldn't bring the lightsaber, though, Rey," Finn suggested.

"I'm bringing it," she argued.

"Alright, well, I'll head us down toward Zephus," Poe said, clearly trying to change the subject.

Rey turned back around and continued to watch out of the window. After about ten minutes their ship came into orbit over Zephus. Rey marveled at the colorful planet below her, splotched with striking shades of orange, blue, and purple. As the ship began to descend, Rey realized these were the colors of all of the trees that covered the planet, one giant floating forest. How could such a beautiful place be home to such corruption? She wondered.

...

After their ship had descended into the bustling ship port, the three observed the rough-looking people and creatures milling about outside.

"I think it would be best if we covered ourselves up a bit," Poe said. "I think we'd stand out if we didn't."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, I agree. These are some pretty shady characters."

They decided to wear long hooded cloaks with scarves wrapped around their noses and mouths. Rey tucked her cloak around her lightsaber, making sure it was fully concealed.

"Alright gang, let's go find some fuel," Poe said, waving for them to follow as the ship's door opened.

The air outside the ship was thick with humidity, causing Rey to begin sweating almost immediately as the three began making their way through the tall, cramped buildings of the port town. The buildings looked decrepit, as if the town had seen several small-scale wars. Occasionally, Rey would see an orange or purple tree growing out of the side of a building or rooftop.

People and aliens came from all different directions, most of whom were also concealed with either cloaks or helmets. Everyone seemed to keep to themselves, and Rey instinctually avoided eye contact with all of the passersby, although she occasionally felt their eyes on her back as she passed.

"Keep close, Rey," Finn said under his breath. He tried to loop his arm through hers, but she shook him off.

"Quit that," she hissed.

Poe led the way through the bustling town, passing through crowded market stalls that sold a wide variety of things: exotic foods, strange weaponry, books, metal parts. There was even a booth displaying a range of skulls.

Finn grimaced as they passed the skulls, and the burly man behind the display stood up, looking right at Finn. "You want somethin' here, or you just gonna stare?" He bellowed, and Rey pushed Finn along.

"Try not to stare," Poe said over his shoulder. "The last thing we need is a fight."

After about twenty minutes of walking, Finn seemed to be growing frustrated. "Poe, we haven't found anyone selling fuel, I think we should just go back towards the ship port."

The three stopped in an open but busy plaza. Sweating from the humidity, Rey lowered her scarf from her face, fanning herself with her hand. She sensed someone watching her, and she looked to her side to see a large bearded man in a hood watching her intently. She averted her gaze, pulling her scarf back up to her face.

"But there weren't any fuel vendors there, either. C'mon, I'm sure we'll find something soon," Poe said, and Rey noticed his eyes were fixated on something to their side.

Rey turned and saw the man she'd noticed a minute beforehand heading straight towards them. "Excuse me sirs," the man coughed. "Hate to bother." His eyes flickered to Rey for a moment.

"What do you want?" Poe asked, folding his hands across his chest.

"I heard you were lookin' for fuel."

Poe's face lit up. "Yes! We were."

"I'd give you as much as you need and more, in exchange for this pretty-eyed girl of yours," he said.

"Get lost," Poe snapped, lowering his hands into fists and widening his stance. Finn stepped in front of Rey, scowling at the man.

The man held his hands up in front of him, backing away. "Okay, it was only an offer," he said, and disappeared into the crowd.

"That man wanted to buy me?" Rey asked, astonished.

"There's a lot of slavery out here, Rey," Poe said, concern in his eyes. "Like Maz said, there's no government, so anything goes."

"Let's get out of this area," Finn said, his eyes scanning the crowd for the man. He led them through a quieter market area.

"It's not safe to stick around here much longer," Finn said over his shoulder, eyeing Rey.

"Well, frankly, we don't have enough fuel to make it to the nearest planet, so we're going to have to stay here until we find some gas," Poe said, moving up to Finn's side.

Rey grew tired as she followed behind Poe and Finn through shopping centers and winding alleyways. As they made their way through an especially busy and winding street, Finn continually turned over his shoulder to make sure Rey was following close behind.

"I'm fine," she insisted, more than once. The sun was beginning to descend, the sky was turning a deep orange, matching some of the trees that were scattered along the streets.

At one point, Poe turned a corner, and Finn looked back to make sure Rey was following behind before turning around the wall.

Rey too was just about to turn the corner as her feet were suddenly yanked out from under her, forcing her onto the ground. The wind knocked out of her chest, she gasped as she felt something sharp plunging into her neck.

Everything went black.

What happened to Rey? Things are about to get twisty, so buckle up Padawans. Thanks for reading and reviewing! For the record, my aim with this story is to explore some plot lines that I don't think are actually going to happen in Ep. VIII and IX, while for the sake of realism still stay true to the nature of the characters themselves (as based on how we see them in "The Force Awakens"). I'll be posting chapters as often as I can, so thank you for your continued patience.