riverview | text: un scavenger.rey

He was a brute, wouldn't say evil...just annoying and frustrating.

Yes, there were others, but there wasn't much to be done about it. You could try to leave, but there was no where to go. Or try and find work with one of the others stopping by, perhaps join their crew and leave that way. Or.. [There's a faint, bitter smile on her face.] Repair a ship.

Don't have to deal with him anymore..and possibly no one else.

Slavers are evil; why else would one seek to control the fate of others so absolutely?

It was repairing the ship which led to this adventure you took, then. Between that and how you were able to survive in that desert alone — you're a resourceful woman. I admire that in you.

( But the others... her heart twists in her chest to think of them. )

Possibly no one else?

...For profit. [The words slip out, recalling when he tempted Rey with 60 portions for BB-8.] I think he was working with the evil I spoke of earlier.

Actually, no. The ship I repaired was stolen by others. I wasn't planning on leaving at that point. I wasn't planning on leaving at all until someone convinced me to.

[There's a sheepish smile as she ducks her head a little.] There is nothing to admire. I wanted to live to see my family..and possibly too stubborn to die. But, thank you for your kind words.

When I left Jakku, there was a battle and I don't think the brute is in charge of the area I was in. I think everyone is probably doing better now.

My point exactly. Greed is a monstrous thing. And if he truly was, then I hope someone returns there to remove him and free the others like you. They should be at the helm of their own lives; not bound in servitude.

But you were able to do it; and now you've found your freedom. I'd call that resourceful, and it is.

( Her expression remains softer, now. ) I disagree. Anything is possible for you now that you're away from that brute, and that desert.

I do hope that you find your family one day. Or at least learn of their fate.

( Either way: she honours them in surviving so well. )

I don't know if greed was truly his main motive, but it wouldn't surprise me. I didn't know much about him, aside from reporting to him at the end of the day to trade my work for portions--food. But, you are right. Others should be at the helm of their own lives.

I suppose, that's one way to look at it. [Surviving, being resourceful, sort of the same in her book.] Though the living conditions weren't the best, I learned a lot. Different languages, and how ships worked, among other things.

[There's a pause from Rey.] I think most likely they're gone. If they had the chance to return, I think they would have, but it wasn't meant to be. But I do appreciate the thought.

If it weren't, he would have been paying the lot of you even a pittance for your services, and not the other way around. You're well rid of such filth.

Hardship can destroy many. Others are hewn into something altogether stronger for having experienced it. We are the latter. Assassins hunted me all my life; at times we were homeless throughout my childhood, or relying on the pity and self-interest of those who would use us. They thought my life would end when I was sold like a broodmare.

Like Jakku was for you, that was but the beginning for me.

( Something shifts in her expression; a knitting together of her eyebrows, a softening around her eyes. They hold empathy, not sympathy or worse, pity. )

It is a difficult thing. But then you can do no other than live on, one way or the other. I am the last of my family, too.

[It's surprising to hear the life Dany had. She had people trying to kill her at a young age, and then treated like livestock. Anger flickers in her brown eyes. Her life had been harsh, but it was nothing compared to Dany's. No one should live like that. At least she never got that desperate for food that she sold her body in exchange.]

No one should have experienced that. I cannot imagine what you endured, but you are far more resourceful than I am. [She went from having leeches and vultures around her to being a Queen, to reigning over dragons. That beats what Rey's accomplished so far.

Rey is thankful she can see the empathy in Dany's eyes. The last thing she wanted was pity, or to be thought of as 'lesser.' They really are kindred spirits, aren't they? Women with harsh backgrounds, who should be heartless and selfish, but they became so much more than that.]

It is a difficult thing, but you learn to accept it, or at the very least ignore it. You focus on one task at a time and continue on.

No one should endure what we have; not simply me. And I wouldn't give myself so little credit were I you. You're a survivor, as I am.

( And it's definitely something she values and admires in others. To her, it doesn't matter what Rey have achieved just yet. It sounds to her as though whatever journey she'd embarked upon had just begun before she'd been brought here.

She'd been in her place, and not so long ago as all that. She bestows a small but genuine smile upon her, one which reaches her eyes. )

Don't ignore it. Embrace it. For example: I am the last, and that is an asset rather than a hindrance. Whatever you might see as a weakness in yourself, take it, hone it and turn it about into something which gives you power, a feeling of confidence.

I don't see you being beaten by anything so easily after all you've been through.

( She doesn't need to know her well at all to know that is a truth. )

[We. Someone who understands what it meant to survive nearly by any means. A sense of belonging, a sense that she wasn't alone. Someone who understand her struggles, even if they weren't exactly the same. Though Rey doesn't know if she was used to being given credit, or simply thinking she wasn't worth it. I'm no one. She used to say. No one who was important in the grand scheme of things..but there were others who believed in her. Others like Finn, Han...Chewie...and possibly her new friend.]

That's what I tell people. It's not something I endured, but survived big difference between the two, don't you think? [Enduring meant the person was given the choice of continuing on, they didn't.

A light chuckle leaves her lips hearing Dany's passionate words.] Embrace it? [She asks, finding it funny that she should embrace being called a desert rat, or whatever else the First Order thought of her. But, Dany is right. There was something she wasn't fully embracing..The Force. She had been doubting it, and maybe that's what keeping her from fully connecting with it.] I honestly don't think there's much to embrace. I'm just...me. [A girl--an orphan from Jakku.]

But...you've given me something to think about, given new sight to something that's been on my mind.

One leads to the other, I think. The enduring hones one's strength so that they can survive and then thrive in adversity. I was sold to a horselord, and his people became mine. A disadvantage turned into an advantage.

The skills you learned on Jakku have given you a like advantage; resources as well as resourcefulness others cannot share because they have not experienced what you have. Which is why I urged you to embrace it. All you have suffered cannot be for naught if you make it otherwise. Were you alone in your quest to vanquish what threatens your stars?

( She doubts it, and Dany smiles, a gentler expression than previously. ) And you are strong.

( Beautiful, too. And so many other things, but Rey's strength is what shines the brightest in her when Dany watches the image playing on her glass painting. )

You've been thinking on this of late?

That is one way to look at it, though I see it as surviving no matter what. What I have gone through, or endured, was only one part of it. Survival was the ultimate goal, next to seeing my family.

[...And why does Dany make it sound like Rey was on some epic quest? Was it her language? Her strong, compelling voice? Or how regal she acts? It made Rey wonder if this how the General acted in her youth, when she was still the Princess of Alderaan.]

No, I wasn't alone. I had my friends to help, and that danger...it's still lurking. There's still a battle to fight. [The First Order would be brought down by their hands.

The way Dany says that, like a soothing balm from one survivor to another softens Rey's expression to one of gratitude.] Thank you.

Yes, I have. There's been something on my mind about my home world. A puzzle, if you will, but given what you said, I think I found a new approach to it.

A great lady once imparted some valuable advice to me: that as the sigil of my House is a dragon, I should embody its nature to the very core of myself. It may not be yours, but you must fight as fiercely if you and others are to survive and emerge victorious. In my country, the dead rise from the grave to consume the living. I will burn them all before I allow them to harm my people and make a wasteland of our home.

Your world and mine may differ greatly, but the situations we find ourselves in don't seem so radically different. You'll need to face this evil again, for the sake of all those stars and all those other worlds. And for yourself.

( She understands both things well: because she is doing what she does as much because it's right as much as she is because she feels the need to prove to herself and to others that she deserves their allegiance. I'm not coming to conquer the North; I'm coming to save the North. They'll remember. And so will all those other worlds at stake in Rey's realm.

Wherever it is. There is respect in her gaze now as she eyes her, and finally nods her head. )

The answer might already rest within yourself. I hope you discover it in time.

text: un scavenger.rey

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