Rey

iv

By Rey's tenth "birthday," they were splitting up to scavenge more of the huge fields of crashed ships.

Rey would load her own sled with salvaged parts, and meet Jase at the speeder to load it all up.

It was on one of these expeditions that Rey found a long pole, with threads to screw something on.

She decided to use it as a walking stick.

When she got back, Jase wanted to sell it for a ration.

"Rey, it's only worth one portion, but that's an extra ration for us to eat," Jase said, trying to talk reason into her.

Rey merely clutched it to herself and shook her head. She remembered the hunger times, but she wanted this, a special thing for her and her alone.

He finally gave up and dragged the net of things to Unkar Plutt to sell for rations.

She smiled after him in victory.

Jase stuffed the day's haul of rations into a pouch, holding three in his hand.

A man strode over toward him.

Raze Anders.

Rey watched helplessly from her perch on the speeder.

Raze stopped Jase, who, though he was almost the same height and age, shrank before him. He raised a fist, and Jase handed over the three portions meekly.

Rey watched as Raze motioned for more, and, when Jase played dumb, ripped the bag from his shoulder. She slid down, on edge and gripping her new staff.

Before he left, he spat at Jase's feet.

This filled Rey with rage, and she ran after Raze with her staff, intending to hit him over the head and demand he give her the food back.

Raze merely grabbed the staff and threw it, and her, backwards.

She fell heavily into the dust, struggling to get up.  Then a hand fell on the back of her neck, grabbing the cloth there, and pulled her.

She flailed to escape whoever had their grubby hands on her.

"Stop it!" Jase hissed.  He helped her to her feet and took the staff.

She grasped for it.  Her staff!

"I'll give it back.  Come on."

Rey followed him to their tent and he closed the flap.

"What were you thinking?" Jase whispered.

"He hurt you," Rey replied, reaching for her staff.

He held it behind his back.  "No he didn't!  He was going to if I didn't comply, and I did.  So he didn't hurt me.  And he wouldn't have hurt you if you hadn't run after him."

"But he took our rations."

"We have plenty more.  But now you've just given him more of a reason to hate us."

"Why does he hate us in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter."

Rey pouted.  "Can I have my staff?"

He handed it over and walked to his bed.  The little box they had started out with for the rations had filled up, so besides the box under his mattress, there was another one holding up Rey's bed.

Jase took out four portions and started to prepare them.

Rey rummaged through a pile of parts they were saving "for a rainy day," as Jase said, even though said rainy days were few and very far between.

"What are you looking for?"

She shrugged and dug some more.  When she found a part she thought might work, she tried to put it on the threaded part of the staff.

She dropped the piece and tried another.   Finally, she fitted two pieces on, one to either end.

Rey stood with it, and held it up for Jase to see.

"Do you want me to teach you how to use that?" Jase asked.

Rey nodded.

"Tomorrow then."

She put the staff by her bed and went to where Jase was placing her food on the table.

They had found some sort of eating ware in the star destroyer's galley, and they used those instead of bits of metal.

Because of that, Rey's fingers were less cut up now.

They ate, cleaned up, and went to bed.