Across The Stars // Star Wars (Sequels)

✰Chapter 49✰

So turns out I completely forgot to upload this chapter... Sorry! Hope you enjoy :)

The cold wind chills me to the bone and I try to disappear in the thick winter coat we found on Ochi's ship. Even though it's very thick and would probably be very comfortable if it hadn't been lying in an abandoned ship for who-knows-how-many days, it doesn't do much to block out the cold. My hand is permanently wrapped around the heft of my Lightsaber as we wait for Poe to return. In the distance, I hear an alarm wailing.

Kijimi is bustling with stormtroopers that invade the houses of the citizens, claiming they are wanted for questioning by the First Order. The tone of their voices boils my blood and for the umpteenth time, I realise how strongly the First Order's grip on the galaxy is.

I spot Poe turning a corner and joining our huddle again. "They're everywhere," he says. "All right, I know what we should do." 

"So do I. We should leave," 3PO chimes. 

"Clam it, 3PO," Poe comments. "Follow me." 

I make sure BB-8 and D-O, our new droid, follow us into a side alley. Poe seems to know his way around here and I don't bother questioning it, but it does make me wonder. We stop just before a junction and Poe points down the road. "Let's head down this w-" he starts, only to be cut off as the end of a loaded blaster is placed against his head. I inhale sharply and my finger flies to the ignition button of my saber, but I don't press it just yet.

"Heard you were spotted at Monk's Gate," the woman holding the blaster says. I turn the corner along with Finn and Rey. The woman in question is wearing a maroon and gold suit, a metal helmet covering her head. "I thought, 'He's not stupid enough to come back here.'"

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Poe says, rather casually. 

"Poe, who is this?" I ask.

"Guys, this is Zorii. Zorii, this is Raven, Finn, and Rey," Poe introduces us, but Zorii doesn't seem to care in the slightest.

"I could pull this trigger right now," she sneers. 

"I've seen you do worse," Poe says.

"For a lot less." 

"Can we just talk about this?" Poe asks her, lowering the hood of his coat.

"I wanna see your brains in the snow." Zorii's words sound cold and full of hatred. There must be a history between them, I realise, and before I can drive myself mad by imagining situations, I choose to listen to their conversation while never removing my hand from my saber.

"So you're still mad?" Poe asks. She just cocks her head to the side. "Zorii, we could really use your help. We gotta crack this droid's head open and fast." 

"Pardon me!" 3PO exclaims.

"We're trying to find Babu Frik," Poe says. 

"Babu?" Zorii asks. "Babu only works for the crew. That's not you anymore." 

"Poe, what crew?" I ask. Several others have surrounded us, each aiming a blaster or two at us.

"Oh, funny he never mentioned it," Zorii says. "Your friend's old job was running spice." 

"You were a spice runner?" Finn asks.

"You were a stormtrooper?" Poe asks in return.

"Were you a spice runner?" Rey questions.

"Were you a scavenger? We can do this all night!" he frustratingly exclaims. 

"You don't have all night," Zorii says, never lowering her blaster. "You know I'm still digging out of the hole you put me in when you went back to the Resistance." Her eyes fall on Rey. "You. You're the one they're looking for. Bounty for her just might cover us. Djak'kankah!"