Desert Rose - A Reylo Fan Fiction

Just Another Day

Author's Note: I promised I'd upload the story today - and I did! What you lucky readers get is not one, but TWO chapters instantly! I'm going out of town for work again tomorrow, so hopefully these first two chapters will be enough to hold you over until the middle of the week. ENJOY!!! ♡

*artwork used does not belong to me*

The sun beat down mercilessly on Niima Outpost. The bustling hub of trading on the desert planet of Jakku was particularly busy today. The pans available for cleaning parts for trade were crowded and it was hard to come by an available basin.

Still, one girl managed to find her way to a bowl unoccupied near one of the elder women she was familiar with. She knew the woman by association only. The girl tended to keep to herself mostly. All the scavengers tended to cross paths with each other eventually. It was hard not to. If you needed parts, it was likely someone else did too. And if Unkar Plutt, the junk boss of Jakku, was paying well for a specific item, you could damn well bet things got vicious when scavenging against your competitors. You found that calcinator first? Best hide it, or you might end up having a hole sliced in your rucksack by a fellow ne'er do well scavenger, trying to steal it from you.

The elderly woman brushed quickly at her findings and the girl found herself wondering how long she would be scavenging. How much longer would she need to deal with the daily plights she suffered through in order to survive out here? Would she reach the age of this woman? Surely her parents would come back by then....

Her thoughts were startled by another scavenger, a metallic creature of some sort, barking at her in his strange language to hurry up. She was hogging the basin, he said. She quickly went back to scrubbing the metal piece in her hands. Angry people, weather she knew them or not, was something you did not want at Niima Outpost. Any unwanted attention would surely get her in trouble with Zuvio, the Niima Outpost Constable. And anything she did wrong would most definitely be reported to Unkar Plutt - her employer, for lack of a better word for the Crolute.

She bagged up her cleaned items and hurried away, holding her head down and away from the creature who yelled at her. He hastily took the spot she vacated. She went and found a space in line, her stomach growling in anticipation at what today's haul would grant her in food portions this time.

What she had today wasn't anything special. But it was in prime condition, something Unkar didn't take for granted. The creature in front of her finished their transaction with Unkar and it was her turn. She lifted the rope sack of parts onto the counter of his trailer for him to examine.

Their eyes met briefly. He was never fond of Rey, but he wasn't necessarily overly cruel to her either. His eyes squinted at her in almost a disapproving manner today. He looked at the chronometer just to the left of his position inside his post.

"If you don't hurry, you'll be late for your shift girl." He muttered to her as he began examining the parts she had brought for him today.

"I have my speeder." She replied. "I'll make it on time."

She looked at the chronometer as well. He was right. It was getting late.

"Humph." Was all Unkar replied.

Almost as if to torture her, he took his time examining her wares.

"What you've brought me today is worth.... One quarter portion."