Steady On.

Chapter 33.

(Before the Events at Cinnon'Ra)

The journey was long, almost too long. The closer they grew to the city, and the farther they flew from home, made Rey feel more anxious than ever. She tried to meditate, and found it to be too difficult to sit still, her mind racing with different outcomes and possibilities for their plan.

In the end, Rey decided to tinker with the tracking device that was to be carried with BB-8, making sure that the signal would be able to last farther than expected, and remain mute throughout their time in the city.

From the cockpit, Chewie roared loud enough to fill every corner of the Falcon, alerting the team that they have arrived and landed on the docking station hidden behind a waterfall, just as Flora and Kai instructed.

Rey's stomach clenched as she walked towards the lounge area where Flora and Kai were sorting through their disguises, tossing Rey's to her.

"I suggest you get changed now. The sooner we leave, the better." Flora mumbled as she unstrapped her boot and kicked it off.

Rey unfolded the outfit that was tossed to her, struggling to swallow over the giant lump in her throat as she looked over the sheer skirt, wondering where the rest of the pieces were.

"Don't worry about it, we'll be blending in. In fact, we might even be wearing too much clothes." Kai said, winking to Rey. Rey inhaled sharply, resisting the urge to grab her lightsaber and tear through the city herself.

'Remember the plan.' a voice whispered to her. Rey quickly turned around, looking for the source but only coming face to face with the rusted wall of the kitchenette.

'That sounded like...' Rey's thought trailed off as Kai came up to her, holding a large silver necklace up to her neck, inspecting it against Rey's skin.

"Take this one. It'll distract from the eyes." Kai said, shoving the piece into Rey's hand that was still gripping the outfit.

Rey blinked a few times, and turned around again. "Did either of you hear anything? I could have sworn..." Again, Rey was cut off by BB-8 rolling around the corner of the hall and right up to her.

The unit whistled and beeped to her, letting her know that it did not detect any life sources around the area.

Rey 's attention snapped back to the task at hand, sighing as she winced at the garment, deciding to suck it up and change, knowing that there was no way around this, and it was far too late to turn back now.

( X )

Nearly four hours later, the team stood together at the end of an underground tunnel that they traveled through to get into the middle of the city, undetected by any resident.

Once they came above ground, Chewie said his farewell, having done his part and escorted them through the tunnels. There was no way they would be able to get to the theater the feast was being held at with Chewie standing out. So, it was decided that he would be skipping out until later.

As for BB-8, he was currently traveling with the trio, hidden beneath Rey's large, black cloak. It made walking rather awkward, but the girls huddled together so they wouldn't raise any suspicion.

The three women made their way through the crowds of Cinnon'Ra, the streets filled busy bodies, every face showing a scowl or scar, most times both. Rey had to be constantly reminded to keep her head down, and make sure her face was shielded by the sheer veil, yet at times, she could not resist the urge to glance up.

There were vendors parked at every empty spot of the dirt roads, offering all types of illegal services and arms, some offering food and basic needs. It seemed that every person that was awake, was smoking some type of cigar or cigarette, the stench in the air mixed with the sweat and alcohol made their noses tingle.