disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. All original characters are of my creation.

"Naya."

The young girl turned to the source of the voice. Her mother. She casually motioned for Naya to come closer. Naya stood up from her spot in front of their hut and walked over to her. It was the middle of the day, right when the sun was at its highest, making the heat nearly unbearable.

"Why can't we just stay in the hut?" Naya stopped in front of her mother, making sure to wipe away the sweat from her brow.

"You're going to get used to this heat," Mila commented, offhandedly, "Before I take you out to the graveyard, you need to learn some basic defense skills."

"Defense skills?" Naya allowed her shoulders to sulk, "You can't teach me this inside the hut, out of this heat?"

"Naya." Mila's voice held an unsaid warning. Telling Naya to stop asking to get out of the heat.

She finally relented with a heavy sigh and nodded her head, signaling for her mother to continue.

"I'm not going to make this complicated for you," Mila removed her scarf wrap and secured it around her waist, "I don't expect you to get into a brawl with anyone on your first outing,"

"Sounds fine to me," Naya wanted to get this going, that way they could finish it and she could retreat into the hut.

"Okay," Mila reached out and took hold of Naya's arm, "The first thing I want to teach you is how to punch,"

"Punch?" Naya questioned, "Isn't that supposed to be easy?"

Mila raised her brow and smirked, "You would think. But there is a certain technique you should follow and that involves," she gave a few gentle taps to Naya's hand. "Making the right fist to punch with."

Naya looked at her hand and then her mother, giving an unsure look, "Okay," she replied, not sounding the least bit enthusiastic.

Mila gave a small amused sigh, "Okay, let's get started. When you make a fist, make sure that your thumb is outside, not tucked inside," Mila closed Naya's hand, showing her what to do with her thumb. "Got it?"

Naya assessed the work and then gave a quick nod, "Yes."

"Make sure to always remember that. When you go in for a punch, you could break your thumb and you don't want to do that,"

Naya gave a singular nod, "Got it."

"Now, when it comes to aiming for where to hit, don't go for the face,"

Naya raised a brow and gave her mother a questioning look, "Isn't that where you're supposed to hit them?"

"They can easily dodge the hit," Mila explained and smiled when Naya nodded her head, "I would suggest aiming for the chest, ribs or," Mila used her other hand to point at her neck. "Aim for their throat."

Naya's eyes widened at the thought of possibly punching someone in the throat. In fact, the idea of having to punch or physically harm anyone was a little scary for her.

"And when you punch, aim and punch with your first two knuckles. They're the strongest of your fingers."

"Okay," Naya stared at her fist and tilted her head, "Can I still punch someone in the face though?"

Mila couldn't help but smirk, "Yes, you can. But don't do it with a fist, do it with the bottom palm of your hand," she opened Naya's hand and turned it over, quickly tapping at the area. "You use this part, it's the softest part of your palm. And always aim upwards."

After taking in the information, Naya slowly nodded her head, "And to think, I always thought that punching was a simple thing to do."

"Once you get the hang of it, it'll be easy for you, and I don't expect you to have this all down in one go," Mila quickly made Naya's hand back into a fist, "Now, I want you to practice punching."

"Punching what?"

Mila released her hold on Naya's arm and leveled her palm in front of Naya, "Practice punching my palm."

The look that Mila received from her daughter almost made her laugh, Mila could see that Naya was silently questioning her, "You want me to punch your palm?"

Mila found Naya's hesitation not surprising. Naya was a kid who never would get physical with anyone. No fights on her part. That was something Mila had been grateful for, Jaiden had been through a few instances like that but nothing too major. Naya was always teased by Jaiden for being too good. Now, teaching her how to defend herself would understandably confuse her.

"Naya, it's fine," Mila tapped at her open palm. "Just throw some punches right here, don't exert yourself too much."

Naya adjusted her fingers as she positioned herself, giving her a more direct line to her mother's hand. Making sure that her thumb was outside of her fist, she narrowed her vision down on her target and threw out her first punch. She heard the impact, although she didn't really feel anything. It was a weak punch.

"That was good," Mila was quick to give encouragement. "Try it one more time, just put a little more into it."

Her mother's encouraging words made Naya focus her attention more. Bringing her fist up, Naya eyed her mother's palm, took a few seconds to get her aim right, and then lurched her arm forwards. This time, she felt a few pops in her knuckles. The sound surprised her and Naya immediately retracted her hand and looked down at her fingers.

"You're okay," Mila assured. "You just popped your knuckles, you're fine."

Naya flexed out her fingers just to make sure. She was fine. Still, Naya had a right to be worried. She had never done anything like this before. It was different. Uncomfortable. She didn't feel like herself. Physical violence was never something her parents promoted for her to take an approach too. The very idea that this was now necessary in order for her to survive out here, it was jarring.

"Naya, try it again,"

Mila's voice brought Naya back to center. Again, Naya positioned herself in the right stance, made her hand into a proper fist and went back at it, throwing a few punches. They started out fairly strong. Not enough to where it would hurt either of them. But Mila could tell that Naya was putting as much into it as she possibly could. However, after a small amount of time, the punches were starting to get weaker with their impacts. Naya was losing her drive. Naya threw her last punch and then took a step back. Her forehead was slick with sweat and her lungs were burning from inhaling the humid air.

Mila straightened her back, keeping her vision on Naya, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she huffed out a breath and kicked at the sand. "I just find it odd. You're teaching me how to defend myself because we are living on this barren wasteland. I just can't stop thinking about how everything just changed."

"I know," Mila shook out her hand, the one Naya had been punching, and allowed her arm to hang by her side. "I know that you didn't want to come out here. But you have been doing amazingly well."

Naya shrugged at her mother's attempt at a compliment. Not that she was dismissing it. She didn't feel like it was true. "I just want to go home."

Mila nodded her head, sadly. "Me too."

There was more Mila could have said. All she had to offer was the truth. She did want to go home. She wanted to see her husband, her son. The normal life she had been living had been cruelly ripped away from her. She would do anything to make it all go back to normal. But what was the point of that? Wishing for something that would never happen. It would only wear her down. She had to move on, Naya had to move on.

"You want to try again?" Mila was hoping that it would help get Naya out of this mindset. Help to keep her focused, "Come on, Naya."

The young girl didn't necessarily want to continue. She wanted to go back inside the hut, to get out of this heat. But, her mother seemed persistent. Perhaps, if Naya just gave a little more into this next attempt, her mother would be satisfied. Settling for going another round, Naya took her stance and raised her hands up in fists. Narrowing down her focus on her mother's palm, she threw out singular hits, they weren't weak nor were they overbearing. They were nice solid hits, a testament to the fact that Naya was concentrating more. Just what Mila wanted. Naya had figured that putting more effort into this next round would earn her the ability to go back into the hut.

"Okay, that's enough."

Naya halted and allowed her arms to hang down by her side. Her forehead was drenched with new sweat and the muscles in her arms were aching. She used one of her hands to gently massage the sore area, "I'm just not used to doing something like this."

"Give it time," Mila offered. "You will grow accustomed to it."

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Not that long ago, we were at our home. And now, you are having to teach me how to defend myself," Naya shrugged limply. "I was never someone who would get violent with someone. Now, it's almost a requirement. Doesn't that bother you?"

"That's not something that I have been thinking about a lot," Mila untied the scarf warp from her waist and used it to dry her face, "I am doing everything to make sure that we make it out here."

"You can't afford to dwell on it," The conversation that Naya had with Zara was the first thing that came to her mind. About living with what she was feeling and now facing it. Having to not think about how everything went wrong and just focus on surviving. Naya couldn't stop thinking about it because she didn't know if she would be able to do that.

"Where did that come from?"

"Zara told me. She kind of gave me this talk about how it's not wise to keep yourself in that kind of mindset. Especially when it comes to living out here."

"Well, Zara does have her head in the right place, I don't think about it because it's not important. And it won't change anything by worrying."

Naya nodded quietly but she wanted to change the topic, "What about the girl?" Naya made her hands into fists and raised them up, "Are you going to teach her how to punch as well?"

"I will," Mila mulled over her thoughts for a moment longer, "Perhaps not right away. She still is not at ease with being around me. However," Mila pointed at her daughter. "You seem to be getting through to her."

"Not exactly," her hands fell back down to her sides, "I don't feel as if I'm making progress. I just talk to her."

"There's nothing wrong with just talking to her," Mila motioned for Naya to start heading towards Zara's hut. "Give it a little more time and I am certain you will be the first one to get through to her."

Naya appreciated her mother's assurance but she didn't say anything else on the matter. She felt immense doubt that she would ever be able to strike some kind of mutual trust with this young girl. But, Naya knew that she was going to continue with what she was doing, no matter how much she was doubting herself. After having done this since she arrived, it has become almost second nature. Talk to the girl, carry on conversations with her. Even though Naya didn't get verbal responses, the girl made sure to let Naya know that she was listening. Whether it was head nodding or more recently, humming. If it was a direct question Naya asked, the girl would respond with some kind of hum noise. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Naya to go on with. She felt that she was on the right path and she wasn't keen on stepping off too soon. Naya was going to be persistent. After all, that is how she befriended Ben. Even when he tried to get her to go away, Naya stood her ground. That is what she had to be here, of course, a little more careful with how much she pushed her.

Upon entering the hut, Naya saw the young girl wearing a hood and a wrap around her face. And covering her eyes were the goggles that they made. There was a new feature to her goggles. A small flashlight that had been attached to the right side. Naya admired the outfit for a brief second and then nodded.

"I like that whole setup," Naya pointed at her outfit, earning a head tilt from the girl. Naya didn't need to see her face to know that she was smiling.

"You are going to have something similar," Zara turned to the table and picked up a shawl, with long sleeves and a huge hood attached to it. There was another huge piece of fabric on the table.

"Am I going to wear both?" she asked, eyeing everything curiously.

Zara quickly glanced down at the fabric on the table and nodded, "You will use that to wrap around her head to secure your hood in place and it will cover your mouth and nose. Keep you from breathing in the dust."

"I want you to try this on, Naya."

Naya sighed quietly as her mother helped her into the shawl. Then, making sure that her daughter was paying attention, Mila slowly wrapped the extra fabric around her head, covering her mouth and nose until it was secured with a small knot. Naya was going to have to learn how to do this and she watched silently. The way her mother was working with the fabric, trying to keep a mental image of what she was doing. Mila took a second to evaluate the head dress and then nodded.

"Where are my goggles?" Naya's muffled voice asked.

Zara picked them up from the table and handed them to her. Naya then quickly pulled on her goggles, aligned her eyes with the lens and she was done. She looked over at the young girl, who was staring at her through her own goggles. Both of them taking in the site of the other.

"That will have to do."

Naya turned to look at her mother, who had quickly started a conversation with Zara. Most likely about when she was going to take them to the graveyard. Naya focused her attention back on the girl and took a few steps towards her.

"Did Zara tell you that my mother is taking us out to the graveyard?"

The girl gave a stern nod.

"You know, my mother is going to teach you how to defend yourself," The girl slowly tilted her head and pulled up her goggles so that Naya could see her eyes. Naya only nodded at the confusion in her eyes, "We need to learn how to defend ourselves,"

Naya realized that it would be so much easier for her to talk if the wrap wasn't around her mouth. In a quick movement, Naya pulled down the fabric, exposing her mouth, and exhaled. "I don't think she will teach you until a little later. I don't think we are going to be getting into our first fight any time soon."

The girl's mouth cinched to the side and her eyes downcast.

"Are you ready?" Naya asked, earning the girl's attention, "I mean with all of this. Going out, scavenging, are you ready for that?"

The girl only stared at Naya, contemplating on her question. She was about to start a routine that would have to be repeated every single day. Was she ready for that? The girl merely shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling about all of this. Both girls knew that they wouldn't be able to delay anything. Everything around them was moving forward at an alarming rate and they were just barely keeping up.

The day had finally come.

Naya had been woken at an early time, Mila had wanted to leave for the graveyard early enough to give them adequate time to scavenge around the location. However, getting up this early in the morning was something that Naya hadn't done before. Back home, there was no need for her to rise at this hour. She sulked around the hut while getting her outfit together. Putting on the garments was another thing. Naya was moving at such a slow rate, stumbling in her stance. Mila eventually had to step in and help with dressing her.

With Mila's help, getting dressed was very easy for her. Afterward, Naya walked around the hut for a few minutes, trying to wake herself up. The heaviness in her eyes melted away and her body slowly built up the adrenaline she would need for the day. Her muscles twitched back to life and she was starting to become alert. When it was time to head out, Naya made sure to find something before leaving. After rummaging through her bag, she found what she had been looking for. A small necklace that her brother had made for her before leaving. He fashioned out two actually, one for each of them. Naya's had a 'J' engraved on hers while Jaiden had kept 'N' on his. Jaiden described it as being a way for them to stay connected while he was gone. Naya was very young when Jaiden left and the idea of her brother leaving her was unimaginable. She didn't want him to go. Jaiden didn't like the idea of leaving his sister with a broken down mindset. Instead, he made it more bearable for her through this method and she actually believed it. Of course, when she grew older, she knew it was just his way of lessening the hurt she might feel after he left. But she still felt an ounce of her still believed it. That this little item was her special connection to him while he was away.

A little after Jaiden had died, Naya had taken it off which was the first time she ever did. Having it hang around her neck was only a constant physical reminder of what had happened. She had to take it off. And it had been in her bag ever since. Only now, she finally decided to put it back on. In her mind, Naya thought it would act as some form of good luck charm. And in a sense, it was the only thing she had left that represented what her life was like before everything was destroyed. Right now, she could use that kind of reassurance.

The sun was starting to rise over the horizon when they finally left. Piled onto the speeder, they took off towards the ship graveyard. Naya felt nervous being on it. It was strange to her. She had flown in an X-Wing since she was young, and never felt nervous about that. But a speeder made her body tense. This hunk of machinery was bulky and the sound was deafening. It made her think that it would combust any minute while they were riding on it. Loose sand blew in her face and Naya was glad that she had put on her goggles before they left. It would have been a real pain to have sand and dirt getting blown in her eyes.

Naya took notice on how the terrain never changed. All she saw was miles of sand, hardly any sign of people. A few times, they sped past groups that were walking back towards the outpost, presumably returning from the graveyard. This type of sight only made Naya feel sad. She was used to seeing tall buildings and people everywhere. This place was just too void and different. However, this was the type of sight she would be living with for who knows how long.

The sun was just about to peak at its highest when they finally arrived at the graveyard. Naya was taken aback from the scope of it all. The speeder was parked next to a huge sand hill and resting at the top was a downed star destroyer. They were facing the main engines and Naya could spot several areas where the metal had decayed from the wreckage. This was the biggest wreckage in this graveyard. Everything else was small in comparison.

Mila adjusted her hood and moved her goggles into place. Securing her bag on her shoulder, she turned to the young girls, "We have to hike up the hill, don't push yourself too hard."

Both the girls nodded in compliance.

Mila nodded for them to follow and began their trek. She had taken them toward the side, where there was more of a slant going up, making it easier for them to hike up. The hike was miserable. The sun was blaring down on them. Naya could feel her face was already covered in sweat. Having your face wrapped in a fabric with goggles isn't a positive while being out in the desert. It was even more arduous. Their feet kept on sinking into the sand. The exposed skin on their legs suffered from being submerged into hot sand. The higher they climbed, the casual breeze turned into strong winds. And with how small Naya was, it wasn't easy to stand her ground against it. When they finally reached the top, the wind was viewed as a blessing. All three of them were huffing in heavy breaths, supplying their lungs with oxygen to help cool down their bodies. Naya took a moment to take in the scale of the ship's engines. The way they towered over her reminded Naya of the trees back on her home planet. Obviously, they weren't as tall as these engines. But feeling so small compared to this ship was a familiar sensation to her. The wind blew in through the engines and she could hear an echoing howl venturing deeper within the vessel. It was an eerie sound. One that made Naya's entire body shiver.

When the three scavengers entered through the main engines, the howling was even more present. It sounded as if it was coming from all over and not just on source. And their footsteps against the metal swirled in with the air, which carried the noise with it. Streams of sunlight were showing through cracks and small openings. Naya felt another small shiver flow down her spine at the eeriness of it all. She had heard stories about the Empire and the battles that have taken place across the galaxy. Her father had always told her about tie-fighters and star destroyers, how big they were. Now, being in the presence of one and walking through the corpse of a destroyer was honestly mind numbing. These things carried a huge number of workers and stormtroopers.

How many of them died? Possibly all of them.

Naya could only imagine what this thing must have looked like while it was up and running. With workers making sure that the engines were in prime shape, that everything was working smoothly. Despite this being one of the Empire's vessels, Naya felt a small pang of sadness. A huge ship like this just sitting in the desert, slowly deteriorating while scavengers come every day to pick it clean. It was a grim thought.

They continued to walk until they came to a large open area. Mila stopped, which signaled for the two girls to stop as well. She scanned around the vessel and then turned to them, "You two are just going to do something simple. Nothing too complicated." Mila pointed at a side wall that led to an upper level, "That wall will be easy for you to climb, once you get up there you will find crawl spaces. See what you two can find in there. Once you are done, climb all the way to the top. There will be another platform and some rope for you two to scale down. Understood?"

Naya skimmed over the wall Mila was pointing too and mentally locked down on the information that she had given them, "Yes, mama."

Mila nodded, "Go ahead,"

Naya turned to the young girl, silently conveying to follow and then led the way. The two girls stood in front of the wall and Naya took a quick surveillance. There were slots in which she would be able to grab hold of and put her feet through. This should be like climbing a tree back home. "This should be easy," she muttered. Looking over at the girl, she nodded. "I'll go first,"

Naya made sure that her bag was secured on her shoulders. Reaching up, she secured her hands on two of the slots and pulled herself up, her feet immediately finding openings to plant themselves on. Naya continuously referenced back to how she would climb trees back home. This wall and a tree were in no way similar. But the technique she was using to scale this thing was relatively the same way she would climb a tree. The wall was a little higher than she had anticipated, which made Naya feel a little sick in her stomach when she looked down when she was halfway up. Finally reaching the top, Naya pulled herself onto the platform and maneuvered herself until she was looking over the edge. "Come on up," she called down to the girl.

Being up on the platform, Naya could see how much she had climbed. From where she was, it looks a lot higher than it actually was. When the girl started to climb the wall, Naya could feel her stomach lurch a little. She was worried that something would go wrong and the girl would fall or hurt herself in some other way. Naya kept an eye on the girl as she began to scale the wall. She wasn't going as quick as Naya did, even though Naya went relatively slow.

The young girl was approaching the top, close enough to where Naya would be able to reach out for her. In fact, that's what she did. Naya leaned forward and reached her arm out, taking hold of her wrist. "I got you," the other girl reached up with her other arm and took hold of Naya's. She was smaller than Naya which was an advantage. It wasn't like she was trying to pull up her mother. Still pulling her up was no easy task.

Once she was on the platform, the two girls both sat on the platform, their chest heaving with heave exhales. Mila called out to them, "Are you both alright?"

Naya maneuvered herself over to the ledge and gave her mother a small wave, we're fine, were the unsaid words. Mila took Naya's wave as a good sign and then walked off as Naya watched her silently. When Mila was out of sight, Naya moved back and stood up.

"You okay?" Naya asked the girl, who simply nodded her response.

"Good," Naya reached down to help her up on her feet,."Let's go."

They both started walking in one general direction. If they had gone the other way, it would have led them to a dead end. It wasn't long until they came upon the crawl spaces that Mila was talking about. Naya noticed that there were two openings, "You take the one on the right," she said to the girl. "I'll be in the left one."

The girl nodded and moved to the crawl space that Naya had designated for her. Naya knelt down in front of her opening and slid into the opening. The space was tight, and even with her size, Naya still had a little trouble moving through the space. Halfway in, Naya paused and looked around. She gripped onto a metal bar that was a few inches further in and pulled. She slid all the way in and realized that she was on her back. It would be a lot easier if she was on her stomach. Naya's movements were sporadic, there wasn't much room for her to work with but she managed to turn onto her stomach.

That's better.

Naya used various bars and thick wiring as a leverage to pull herself through the crawl space. There was a barrier of wires that separated her from the girl, but they could see each other, somewhat. They both really had no idea what exactly to get. Mila had commented to them how really almost anything can be traded.

"Pick whatever looks decent enough."

The entire vessel was heating up from the sun and being in this tiny crawl space wasn't any better. She almost felt like she was being suffocated. The wrap around her face, combined with the heat, and being confined in this tiny crawl space was a recipe for the claustrophobic feeling that was settling in. Could she do anything about it? No. Naya had to venture on. The cramped tunnel was filled with nothing but heavy sighs and grunts from the two girls. Their faces were becoming slick with sweat but they had to keep their faces covered. Zara was right. Naya could see dirt releasing into the air from their movements. The last thing they need is to be breathing that in.

Naya finally stopped when she came to a small panel on her left side. She moved herself onto her right side as best as she could and pulled out her light. There were bunches of wiring grouped together, prompting her to pull them out. The only thing that was revealed was a small cylinder object.

That looks like something.

Reaching in, Naya grabbed hold and yanked out the object. Upon inspecting it, there were only two openings on the top and bottom. Whatever it was, she was taking it. Naya pulled open her bag and dropped the part in. Then she continued on. A few more things were added to her inventory. Objects that she had no way of identifying, they only looked like something.

The two girls continued on, not knowing that they had crawled about half way through the tunnel. No attempt at conversation was made on Naya's part. She was already out of breath from just crawling and sitting in this small tunnel that was heating up. Trying to talk to one another felt like it would be a wasted effort. They finally stopped when there was an opening in the barrier. It was getting even more humid in the cramped space. Naya pulled her bag around and took out one of her canteens and took a long drink from it.

"Here," she reached through the opening to offer the canteen to the girl. Mila had given Naya canteens for her and the girl, telling Naya to hold onto them and to ration out how much they drank from it. "Are you okay?"

The young girl took the canteen and nodded. She pulled away her shawl and took a drink. Little streams of water trickled down her chin, which she wiped away immediately. After taking another drink, she handed the canteen back over to Naya.

"How much did you get?" Naya took the bottle, capped it, and placed it back in her bag.

The girl looked down at her bag and held up three fingers. Naya nodded silently, "We have a little bit more to go, we'll pick up whatever we find on the way." Naya fumbled with her shawl to cover her mouth. She really hated it. It was hard enough to breathe in the humid air, but to have this thing covering her nose and mouth was making it even more difficult.

"Okay."

A small voice complied. Naya paused and turned to look at the young girl. She just spoke. The two simply remained in silence, allowing Naya to ride out her own surprise. For days, she had worked to get this kind of response from her. Naya honestly thought it was going to take more than a few weeks, possibly even longer. This girl just made a small step to bridge this trust that Naya had been trying to create. And it happened in a very unlikely place. A dirty crawl space within a crashed Imperial destroyer.

"You just spoke?" Naya's voice was muffled behind the fabric covering her face. She then exhaled a breathy laugh.

The young girl gave Naya a small smile before pulling up the shawl over her mouth. "Sorry," she managed to mutter behind the fabric.

"There is no need to apologize," Naya assured. "Let's just work our way out of this place," Naya went to start moving when she stopped and turned back to the girl, "This probably isn't the best time to ask this, but what's your name?"

"Rey."

Even though it wasn't visible, Naya had the biggest smile tugging at her lips. Perhaps the biggest smile she had conjured up in quite a while. Rey, with just one single word, finally broke down this barrier between them. Getting her to say something was Naya's biggest goal, now it has been met. "Rey," Naya repeated the name. "Nice to meet you Rey, I'm Naya," she reached through the opening, offering her hand, to which Rey took.

"Nice to meet you too, Naya."

The two remained in this position for only a few brief seconds before Naya finally pulled her hand away, "Okay, Rey, let's go." Naya sounded actually happy. She even took notice of how light her voice was. She didn't realize how elated she was about this moment until just then. Naya wasn't going to take it back. It felt good to have a moment of just pure elation.

The two continued on, stopping occasionally to check and see if there were other parts that they could take with them. There really wasn't much. Naya wasn't an expert scavenger. Some spaces looked like they had already been picked clean. Other scavengers no doubt. Once again, they didn't try to make conversation. It was hard enough for them to breathe in this confined space, they weren't going to waste their breath by talking at that point.

Finally, they reached an opening at the end of the crawl space and pulled themselves onto the platform. Naya helped Rey out of the crawl space, casually dusting off some dirt that was on her shoulder. The two girls looked around. It was darker, towards the end of the platform they could see the drop off.

Naya raised her light and turned around, finding herself facing a large wall full of thick wires that had weathered and multiple panels.

"You think there is anything here we can salvage?"

Rey turned around and adjusted the light on her goggles, "We can check,"

Naya slowly walked towards the wall, the entire ship creaked, causing the noises to echo through the cavernous space. Naya jumped at a few of the noises, she wasn't used to this surrounding yet. There was a panel that was easily accessible for her and upon further inspection, she only found bunches of wiring.

Stepping back, she looked up the length of the wall, "I think this is just wiring, nothing for us to take."

Rey stepped up alongside her, "Are you not going to try and climb up?"

"I would," Naya looked down at Rey. "Do you think it's a good idea?" She raised a brow for effect.

This particular wall was huge, had a longer length than the wall Naya and Rey had to scale to get on the first platform. That was fairly easy. This looked a lot trickier. From what Naya was able to observe, there weren't many spaces where she would be able to hold onto, or plant her feet on. If there were some kind of rope she could use as leverage then maybe she would try. As far as she could see, there was nothing of the sort.

"Maybe you shouldn't," Rey's voice answered with reason and Naya didn't hesitate to agree with her.

"I agree," Naya replied with a smile, forgetting that Rey wouldn't be able to see it. "We should go and scale down the wall, it's this way."

Naya turned and walked down the left side of the platform with Rey trudging along behind her. It was still astonishing to Naya. The way it all looked. The time that it took to build it was something she couldn't really comprehend. All of those stories of battles and Imperial ships. Now she was standing inside one. It was a strange feeling. Upon reaching the drop off, Naya timidly looked down, the drop made her stomach lurch. That looks really high.

"We have to climb down this?" Rey's tiny voice hinted at her small concern.

Naya grabbed hold of the rope that was hanging in front of her. Looking up, she saw that it was tied to one of the metal bannisters above. Giving it a few tugs, Naya surmised that it was still safe to use.

"The rope is still good," she grabbed the rope with both of her hands and turned her back towards the drop off. "You just watch me and I'll tell you when you can start scaling down,"

Rey nodded silently.

"Okay," Naya slowly eased herself towards the very edge, the back of her feet hanging off. "I can do this; I can do this." Naya quietly assured herself as she slowly began to scale down the wall. Luckily, this wall was much like the first. Slots that she was able to easily plant her feet in. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Still, on the climb down, she stole a few looks below and it only made her swallow hard. Though she questioned herself. She was so nervous about scaling down this wall when she was more than happy to climb the huge trees back home. Trying to understand how her mind was working right now wasn't a priority for her.

When her feet finally touched the ground, Naya let out a relieved breath, "Okay, Rey, come down."

In the moment of watching Rey scale down the wall and she felt it again. That instant lurch in her stomach, a huge wave of worry washed over her. And Naya was finally able to realize what this feeling was. She never had a younger sibling; she was the younger sibling. Several times growing up, Naya would often do something that worried Jaiden. He was always watching out for her, being overprotective. Naya wasn't an obnoxious or energetic child, but there were a few instances where she could have gotten into serious trouble or hurt herself. She never was able to gain an understanding of the whole older sibling complex. Always making sure that your younger siblings were in line and safe. That is what she was feeling now. Naya hasn't known Rey long enough to view her as a sister but Rey was like a younger sibling. Naya was the oldest, therefore was responsible for her well-being. Rey was the youngest and Naya couldn't deny that there was a bond starting to form between them. Watching Rey climbing down with nothing but a rope to help support her was nerve wracking.

"I finally get it, Jaiden," Naya said. "I get why you were always so overprotective,"

Rey scaled the last few feet of the wall and then jumped down when she was at a reasonable height above the ground. Turning around, her head tilted to the side, "Did you say something?"

Naya snapped out of her little trance, "No, you okay?" she wasn't actually aware that Rey had heard what she said. Although, with how cavernous this place was, it can carry even the smallest noise.

Rey nodded, "How did I do?"

Naya smiled, still not remembering that her entire face was covered, "You did a good job,"

"What do we do now?"

"We go and find my mother,"

They walked. Not really knowing which direction was correct. Naya was only basing it off of trying to get back to where they started. Surely her mother would have stayed around the same area. Naya knew her mother. She wouldn't have wandered off far. The humidity in the crashed vessel had reached the highest point. Every exhale made them feel as if more energy was being sucked out of them. Several times, they had to pull up their goggles and wipe their faces. And this is what Naya's life has come down to, doing this every single day.

Naya scoffed to herself. She wouldn't be here if her brother hadn't died. She wouldn't be here if Ben hadn't killed him. She wouldn't be here if Ben didn't have to be sent away. Maybe things would have been different if that never happened. Naya mentally berated herself. Stop thinking about it. She ordered to herself. Naya just blamed it on the fact that it was too hot. That the humidity was getting to her.

They went through two full canteens, ultimately deciding to save the two left in Naya's bag. Naya and Rey walked through a darkened section of the vessel, no sunlight was able to touch this particular area. Even though they both had their own light sources, it wasn't enough to create a very well-lit path for them. A large amount of time was spent navigating through the darkened space, until they came upon an opening that was blazing with light. When Naya peered out, it was to the large opening they arrived at when they first entered the vessel.

"We made it," Naya climbed out of the opening and helped Rey through as well. "That wasn't too bad."

Rey shrugged her shoulders, "It wasn't fun."

"Naya!"

Mila's voice boomed around them, prompting both girls to look up. Mila was walking towards them, one of her hands gripping part of the strap on her bag, "Are you two alright?"

Naya nodded, "Yeah, we're fine."

"How much did you both get?"

"Combined, we only managed to salvage about seven items."

Mila nodded, "That's a nice number for your first time," she switched her gazes between the two girls, "Did you both manage to scale down the wall without trouble?"

"It was fine," Naya answered. "Did you get anything?"

Mila motioned at her bag, "Only a few things, I didn't want us to haul too much out of here, not this time around."

"Are we done here?" Naya asked.

Mila nodded, "Yes, let's get back to the speeder."

Naya and Rey waited for Mila to start walking and then followed.

"Just think," Naya said to Rey. "This is what we have to do for now on."

Edited: 5/11/2020