Rey

v

Rey and Jase, instead of scavenging, went out of the outpost a ways.

Jase told her that he was going to teach her how to defend herself with her staff. It was a better weapon than walking stick.

Especially with Raze's increased hatred of the two orphans, she needed to protect herself.

They worked all day, in the sweltering heat.  By the time they had finished their training, they had both drained six bottles of water each, and leaving only three full ones left, out of fifteen

They walked back to the speeder and headed back to Niima Outpost.

Jase stopped the speeder by the well so they could refill their waters.

Rey hopped down and he handed her the net of water bottles.  She bent over the edge to fill up the bottles.

Some boys nearby started to joke.  "Hey, Jase.  Got a thing for the younger ones?"

She couldn't see, but she could tell Jase was flushed.  "No."

"So we can take your girlfriend?"

"No, and she's not my girlfriend.  You know this," his voice dropped an octave.

Rey turned around to see a very tall boy approach Jase.  He had long black hair, twisted in dreadlocks.  She recognized him quickly, but couldn't place a name.

"So you don't mind if we take her?"

Jase glanced at Rey.  "It isn't up to me.  It's up to her.  She can pick her own fights."

Taking that cue, she filled the last of the bottles and put them back into their net.  Jase took them from her.

The other boy stepped towards her.  "I ain't going to fight no girl.  Why isn't your boyfriend defending you, girly?"

Rey glanced up at Jase to keep her anger in check.

"Told you she was a mute," the boy's friend, one with short red hair, said.

"She ain't no mute, Kasey.  Are you, girly?"

Rey reached up, looking like she was nervously trying to get on, and grabbed her stick.  The boy didn't notice.

"Come on, Hirich.  She's a mute, you can't get a word out of her," Kasey said, scratching at his scalp.  He investigated his nail to see what he'd scratched off.

Rey scowled slightly, then played scared.

"I told you, she ain't no mute," Hirich said.  "C'mon, girly.  Talk to me.  I know you talk to your boyfriend."

Rey finally snapped.  She pulled her staff down and hit him over the head.  "He's my brother," she hissed.  One of Hirich's friends lunged towards her, but Kasey stopped him.  All of Hirich's gang left.

It was just her, Jase, and Hirich, with a crowd of onlookers gathering.

He tried to grab the staff, and she turned around and hit him again, in the side, with the staff.

As he was distracted, she brought it down on his head.  He fell.

She knelt down.  "And my name's not 'girly'," she hissed.

Then she got up onto the speeder.  The crowd parted.

Jase was clearly surprised by how good she was after a day of learning to fight with her salvaged staff.  She attributed it to fear and anger.

He prepared some of the portions they had stored away.

Jase glanced over at Rey, who was taking out her tri-bun hairstyle. "I need to teach you how to make these someday."

She laughed. "No, thank you."

"No, I'm serious. Now with Hirich's group and Raze hating us, something might happen to me. And you'll be stuck eating these rations for the rest of your life, unless you decide to leave. All of Jakku is like this."

Rey got to her feet, shoulder length brown hair swinging. "I'm not leaving. My parents could come back. I have to be here for them."

"See, well, then, I've got to teach you how to make these."

She huffed. "Fine."

He tugged a bit of her hair playfully as she stood next to him at the stove. "You heat up the water, and empty this packet into the water. It will rise into a biscuit. Sometimes Plutt'll have these packets that have the stew stuff in them."

He demonstrated both.

She made her own portion, and they sat down to eat.  The almost tasteless rations tasted better that night.