The blaring light of the sun woke Rey as she coughed and sputtered awake, struggling to breathe. She blinked groggily at the blue sky passing overhead. Her mouth felt sore, and she realized she couldn't fully close it; there was something wrapped around her head, going through her mouth. It felt like some sort of thick cloth. She raised her hands to untie it, but they were caught against something, tethered.
Rey's weak body lightly jostled around, and she had the sensation that she was moving. The surface she lay upon was hard and flat, like wood. She slowly up, pushing her tethered wrists against the wood, but as she did so her head thudded with pain.
Rey looked dazedly around her as she took in her unfamiliar surroundings. She sat atop a large wagon, various large boxes and overstuffed bags surrounding her. Her blurry eyes came to focus on the thin but tight metal cuffs around each her wrists, which she came to realize were tied to the sides of the wagon. Panic rising within her, she tugged her arms repeatedly, but the tethers would not loosen.
She squinted at the expansive yellow grassy field that stretched ahead of her, purple, orange, and blue trees sparsely scattered about the environment. The landscape was moving steadily away from her, and she was slow to realize that she was facing backwards from the direction in which the wagon was moving.
"She's awake, Disfol," a deep voice behind her said. She flipped around to her right, squinting at a blue figure riding on a pack animal that resembled something of a furry Eopie. A coarse-looking human male rode on the same type of animal alongside the blue creature.
"S'fine," a scratchy voice behind her responded. "We'll give her another dosage soon."
Rey leaned around and saw another human man riding a similar animal, which was attached to her wagon, pulling it along through the short grass. The man turned around to look at her, revealing a scarred and bearded face. Rey's eyes widened in horrified recognition: this was the man that had approached them in the port town. Stuck in a state of dazed shock, Rey blinked silently at him as turned back around.
The blue creature riding near the wagon said something in an unfamiliar language. Rey's head begun to spin, and she leaned back down against the hard grain of the wagon, her thoughts slowing as she drifted out of consciousness.
…
When she awoke again, it was dark. As she slowly focused her vision, Rey found that she was inside some sort of makeshift cloth tent, placed upon a few thick and dusty blankets. Warm orange light seeped through the crack in the tent ahead of her. She slowly sat up, a familiar throbbing pain returning to her head. She moved her hands up to rub her forehead, but as she did so she found that her hands were now bound together with the metal cuffs, so she could not separate them. She then twisted her arms to feel at her side, and her eyes widened in shock as she realized her lightsaber was gone.
Rey sucked in a shaky breath as she sat up straight and felt that her feet were also bound together. She leaned forward to observe them, seeing her ankles tied tightly together with some sort of crude rope. She still had all of her clothes from before except for her neck scarf and her shoes. She winced as she observed her red and swollen feet in the firelight. The bindings wrapped tightly around her ankles were cutting off most of the circulation from her feet.
Rey's heart began to race as she took in the cold air in short, shallow breaths, her heart pulsing loudly in her ears. Despite the protest of her throbbing headache, Rey dragged herself forward to peer out the split cloth of the tent's entrance.
Her vision still somewhat unfocused, she saw a clearing with a fire in the center, three figures huddled around it. A dark border of trees and twisting plants framed the clearing. The three men she'd remembered seeing before-it hadn't been a dream, she realized-were sitting around the fire, talking. An animal was outstretched near them, some sort of large dog. Rey strained to hear the men's conversation.
"-Was thinking of going back, too, but I kinda like it out here, this way of life. Livin' on the edge of everything, ya know?" The bearded man who had been transporting her wagon was saying. The blue creature responded in his strange dialect.
The other man spoke up. "I never plan on goin' back. I'm wanted back on my home planet, anyway." The blue creature nodded.
Rey scanned the perimeter of the clearing, trying to figure out some method of escape. She then closed her eyes, attempting to calm herself and clear her thoughts, to focus on probing the men's thoughts. But no matter how hard she concentrated, her throbbing headache prevented her from focusing her mind clearly enough to access the Force. She realized just how incredibly weak she felt, from hunger, thirst, the cold air, and most of all, her growing fear.
Suddenly, the dog lifted its head from the ground, releasing a low growl.
"What is it, Rassel?" The rough-looking man inquired, following the dog's gaze. The dog stood and barked twice, trotting along the edge of the clearing. Rey's heart raced as she realized that if she tried to leave the tent now, the dog would alert the men to her attempt at escape.
"Probably just some animal," the man with the beard said. "There's no one livin' out here."
"That Organa Order has been growing," the other one continued. "I wonder if that First Order will ever come back."
"That's about as likely as the Empire returning," the bearded man chuckled, poking a stick at the fire. "All I care is that this damn prince leaves. Thinks he owns the whole damn planet. Without him, we wouldn't have to be watching our backs all the time." He stood up, kicking the sand with his boot. "'Bout time I hit the sack, if we're getting up early."
"Bet you won't be getting up too early," the other human said, snickering, and the blue creature whistled something in agreement.
The bearded man nodded his head at the other two, and began making his way over towards Rey's tent. She felt the blood draining from her face. No. She scooted back from the tent's entrance, focusing her thoughts, trying to access the Force, but in her panic-stricken and drug-induced state there was a disconnect that prevented her.
The man suddenly parted the sides of the tent and crouched at its entrance, and raising his eyebrows as he looked at her.
"Evenin', Lovely," he said with a sneer, and he reached forward to grab her foot. She released a muffled scream through the cloth in her mouth and kicked wildly back at him, trying with all of her might to use her Force abilities against him. "No need to struggle," he growled, grabbing her feet and yanking her toward him. Rey continued to kick her legs against his savage grip, and he frowned. "I'm sure you're very thirsty," he taunted. "I'll be happy to give you water as soon as you comply."
Anger and confusion filled Rey's expression. He grabbed the restraints around her ankles and whipped out a large dagger, sloppily breaking the rope with a sloppy cut of his knife, nicking one of her ankles in the process. She winced. He threw the knife aside and threw himself on top of her, knocking the wind out of her chest.
She struggled to breathe, wriggling her body, fear gripping her as she suddenly felt something icy cold piercing her arm. She froze with horror as she saw a large syringe filled with green liquid being injected into her. "Now you can relax," he hissed. With his free hand he ripped a portion of her blouse, exposing her neck and bare shoulder. She released another muffled scream through her mouth gag. A fogginess began enveloping Rey's body, her head's throbbing growing slower, her heartbeat louder in her ears. A tear rolled down her cheek. She had never felt so helpless before.
Suddenly, the men's dog began barking ferociously from outside the tent, and the man atop her sat up quickly, looking back over his shoulder. Rey wriggled as he climbed off of her amid yelling from the two men outside.
"What is it?" He growled as he crawled outside the low tent. The dog continued to bark and growl with increasing aggression. "Have we got company?"
Rey slowly sat up, her head swarming, hands clammy. She couldn't think straight, struggling to make sense of things, yet she sensed felt a heavy presence in the air.
The dog's screeches abruptly came to a halt, ending in a squeal, and the men began screaming, grunting, their sounds frantic. She thought she heard crashing sounds, the sound of several heavy steps scuffing against the dirt. Momentarily, the light of the fire grew brighter, and Rey heard a sizzling hiss. Or at least, she thought it did; her sight and hearing were growing less clear by the moment. Her breath came out in shaky sobs as she pulled her knees tight to her chest, frightened and confused. She jumped as she heard a piercing, blood-curdling scream from one of the men, and he continued to scream for several tense moments. What kind of animal is attacking? Rey thought, her mind racing. Then, suddenly, all was completely silent.
Rey's spinning mind struggled to comprehend the situation, but she was too afraid to peer outside of the tent, lest the animal outside see her. She was shivering, but from her fear or the cold night, she wasn't sure. She was crying, and struggled to choke back the sounds of her sobs. She leaned her face into her knees, trying to muffle the sounds of her staggered breathing.
She heard-thought she heard-footsteps crunching heavily through the dirt, growing louder, nearer. She shifted her cuffed hands to the ground at her side, pushing herself backwards, getting as far away from the front of the tent as she could. Her vision spun. She felt nauseous.
Suddenly, with a violent, blinding flash, the tent was severed open through the middle. Rey whimpered and flung herself further against the back of the tent, her wrists damp with blood from struggling against the rusty metal links. She shut her eyes, hoping the animal wouldn't spot her.
She felt something leathery grab at her bare calf—a gloved hand?— but she violently kicked it away. Just then,the rest of the tent was torn away from the ground, leaving Rey shivering out in the open cold air, her arms still wrapped around her knees.
She blinked up at the large, dark figure that loomed above her, but her vision was too blurred to make out who or what it was. It at least seemed to have the form of a human. Rey hissed in anger as she she felt a hand at the back of her head, but momentarily the cloth dropped from her face and mouth.
She gasped as she was suddenly hoisted off of the ground. She struggled in the man's arms, attempting to push away from his chest with her bound hands, but in her drugged state her movements were too weak and had little effect. She felt as if she could no longer access the Force, but yet she still sensed its presence.
"Don't be afraid," a deep and faraway voice said. It took her dull senses several moments to realize that this had been spoken by the dark figure carrying her.
Her eyes strained to focus as she was carried past the blurry bright orange of the fire. Too exhausted to continue struggling, Rey ceased wriggling her limbs and allowed her head to lean against the figure's chest for support.
A heavy and strangely familiar drowsiness suddenly pressed upon her, she tried to fight against it with the small amount of energy that remained, before she was forced to succumb to unconsciousness.