40. Chapter 40: Pirates

40. Pirates

Kylo found he didn't really know what to do, once they had Ovir with them. The boy, predictably, gravitated toward Rey once he seemed willing to speak, although he kept glancing back at Kylo as if for reassurance, which was strange.

Perhaps it was because Kylo knew his language. There could be little other reason.

Rey talked quietly to Ovir about herself, about Kylo too (which was strange, he tried to ignore her, and he thought she felt his discomfort because she changed the subject to her friend Finn), and by the time they got back to the tunnel that led to the vulps' den and their shelter, she had him fumbling out little stories about his papa, which Kylo would have thought would upset him, but which seemed to at least steady him a little.

Perhaps the boy was pretending his father wasn't dead. Maybe he didn't understand. Kylo wasn't sure. Either way, he was satisfied that it was keeping Ovir from panicking – once they'd gotten away from the light of the bridge, Rey had carried Ovir, and their voices kept the dark from being too oppressive.

The tunnel was another matter entirely; Rey tried to tell Ovir it would be an adventure, but Kylo could feel his fear with a nearly physical intensity.

"No," Ovir's voice came in a shaky whisper. "I don't want to go in there."

"It'll be okay," Rey said, quietly, and Kylo sensed her clumsily trying to soothe the child with the Force; he just stood there, unsure what to do. He decided against suggesting they just force Ovir to come with them, as he didn't think Rey would appreciate the idea, or let him try it.

"I'm scared," Ovir said. "I want my papa, I don't wanna go down there."

Rey told him he would be alright, was very quiet and soothing, but it still took far too long to convince him to go with them into the tunnel. The agreement was made that Ovir would hold onto Rey's ankle and Kylo would go behind them both, and that was how they prepared to go back down into the dark.

Before they could, however, Kylo was distracted by a streak of light overhead, not like a shooting star but the afterimages a ship left when it entered atmo, and he reached over and touched Rey's shoulder, going silent. "Rey," he said. "Rey, someone's going to land."

He feared, suddenly, that the First Order was going to send ground troops, to comb over the planet and finish what was left, destroy what little life had to remain here on the surface. He expected, any moment, to see other ships entering atmo and landing, and sure enough, more did come through.

Force. He was just beginning to push Rey to move faster, so that they could hide, when it occurred to him that there had been nothing uniform about the shapes in the dark, that the lights of exhaust vents hadn't been the same brightness or color – not like how TIE fighters would appear coming in, or even troop transports. So then who was this? Surely not the Resistance, they would have been blasted to pieces.

Rey said his thought out loud, "Those aren't First Order ships." Then, surprising him, she got to her feet. "We should go investigate."

Ben stared at her, briefly, trying to decide whether he thought she was completely crazy or merely confused. They had a child with them, they had barely survived, his mother- How could she suggest that they investigate mysterious ships arriving after everything that had happened, it wasn't worth the risk.

Rey looked in the direction the ships had gone – they couldn't be more than a mile away. "Maybe those ships are our ticket out, Ben. We have to go look. When it gets light."

She was right. It had to be nearly dawn, now, and that made Kylo want to be sure they were safe in the shelter until morning, but if those ships weren't First Order or Resistance… perhaps they could steal one, or else hide in them and hopefully make it past the First Order blockade that way. If they wanted to be able to leave, this might be a necessary risk. "Alright," he said, nodding. "When it gets light."

So, as the sky turned light silver-grey and gold and the sun rose, Rey and Kylo and Ovir (who had refused to remain behind in the shelter and now clung to Kylo's leg) struck out in the direction they had seen the ships heading the night before. There was no more smoke, but the landscape still looked scarred and blackened in the light, and Kylo found himself keeping close to Rey, almost in step with her, as she led the way over the burnt grass, back towards what was left of the town.

Kylo reached for the Force and wove it around them protectively, as Luke had once tried to teach him – it was to help them not be seen, more a mind trick than anything else – because as they slipped through the outskirts of the town, he could see some half-dozen Corona-class frigates on the fields outside of town, which told him that the new visitors were either pirates, smugglers, or spice runners. While dangerous, he realized that they may be their best option to get out – they could hide in one of the frigates until they could make a further plan, or better still, pay for passage out.

As the three of them crept through an alley, silently trying to get closer to the frigates to have a look at them, Kylo sensed something behind him, felt danger, and whipped around, but there was something confusing about the sense, like there was nothing there, like the Force could not agree on whether it was a threat or not. Rey didn't turn as quickly, seemed more confused than he was, but he drew his saber and rested his thumb on the switch as the sound of speeder engines whined suddenly close in his ears and a squad of colorfully-dressed sentients on landspeeders came into view in front of them and a dark-skinned Tholothian woman leapt off her speeder to land in front of them, poised lightly for all that she appeared to be somewhere in her fifties, dressed in a sweeping blue coat and a pale, scaled headpiece traditional for the Tholothian people. She pointed a blaster at them as first Kylo, then Rey, ignited their sabers.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice thick and imperious all at once. Behind her, her squad of compatriots drew their own blasters, most seemingly unbothered by their sabers. Her icy blue eyes flitted over first Kylo, then Rey, and she frowned, her blaster lowering slightly. "Are you Sith or Jedi?"

Kylo looked at Rey when he heard the sound of a lightsaber powering down, and saw she was putting her lightsaber on her belt again, hands open in front of her. "I'm a Jedi," she said. "He's my friend."

The woman narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips, and her crew put down their weapons. "A Jedi," she said. "I heard rumors about you. You're the First Order poster boy, aren't you," and she turned to Kylo with an accusatory glare. He chose to turn off his own saber and holster it, although he glared right back at her. They shouldn't antagonize this woman, but he didn't like her.

"We need your help," Rey said, and Kylo sensed she was trying to use a mind trick, smooth and careful.

The Tholothian woman actually laughed, outright, eyes lighting up. "A Jedi mind trick! It's been a long time since I met a Jedi." She bowed a little, dramatically. "My name is Katooni. Don't try to pull something like that again. It's only funny once."

Rey looked surprised. "I- I'm sorry," she said. "We're- When the First Order attacked we were trapped here. We need to get away, and get this boy home." She gestured at Ovir, who was still clinging to Kylo's leg and looked petrified.

Something both warm and sad at once crossed Katooni's face. "What happened here was a tragedy indeed," she said, solemnly, and then her voice became jovial and she said, "and we pirates thrive on tragedy, I'm afraid."

"We need a ride out," Kylo snapped. He didn't understand this woman, but at the least she didn't seem hostile. The sooner they could get out of here, the better.

Katooni leaned forward a little. "I'm here for a profit, not to pick up passengers," she said, and Kylo could feel Rey's disappointment before Katooni added, "but I like Jedi. And like I said, this is a tragedy. You may come with me." Her lips twitched up. "My first mate will want to meet you, Jedi."

"I'm Rey," Rey said, and the woman nodded.

"Well, come on then, Rey." She looked at Ovir, and the smile that crossed her face was almost motherly. "Pick a speeder. And please remember that if either of you makes me think that you're a threat, I will kill you."

Kylo thought that idea was laughable, but since they were currently outnumbered and she was their only way out, he did not say so. Just put his hand on Ovir's shoulder and went with Rey to a spare speeder that held only a pile of loot. She slung a leg over it and he climbed on behind her, hefting Ovir between them onto his lap. He was still surprised Ovir didn't seem afraid of him.

Katooni sent the rest of her crew to keep sifting through the wreckage, and led them back to the frigates herself, steering her speeder with one hand, almost lazily. She had them leave the speeders, took the packed-up loot from their ride, and gestured for them to follow her into the largest of the ships.

The interior was cluttered with supplies, suspiciously-labelled crates that would never make it past a First Order examination, weapons, and small creatures leaping between boxes and piles of cargo. Katooni explained none of it, and simply led them through the cargo, down corridors to the cockpit of the ship.

It was empty at first glance, until someone stood up from the pilot's seat and turned around. He was an ancient-looking Weequay in a stained red coat, goggles, and a jaunty shell-turned-hat half falling off of his head. He put his hands on his hips, like Katooni had done, and laughed so heartily that Kylo almost felt insulted.

"Well, Katooni, what have you dragged back to my ship? I thought you didn't approve of selling people?"

Katooni shook her head, and gestured for the three of them to sit down in the two chairs that sat behind the pilot and copilot seats. "I don't. We're giving them a ride offworld."

The Weequay made a disapproving noise and shook his head. "Of course we are. Well," and he gestured in front of him grandiosely, looking at Kylo, "I am Hondo Ohnaka, and this is my- Katooni's crew. I see that you are Jedi. I used to have many Jedi friends." His expression grew almost wistful. "Yes, I like the Jedi. Katooni-"

"Not now, Hondo," Katooni said, dryly. "And that one isn't a Jedi. He's with the First Order." She nodded at Kylo, who was beginning to feel almost self-conscious.

Oddly, Hondo didn't appear concerned – he laughed, in fact, eyeing Kylo up and down with a grin on his wrinkled face. "You are friends with this Jedi?"

Kylo hesitated, for a moment. Friend didn't feel like the right word – not enough, at the same time as too much. "Allies," he said. "And- friends, yes."

"Good, good." Hondo clapped his hands, nodded at Katooni, and abruptly produced a credit stick from his sleeve to hold out to Ovir. The little boy looked absolutely confused, but he closed his fingers around the stick and pulled his hands back against his stomach. "Well, we will take you where you want to go. Just do not try to fool us, I am not afraid of your laser swords."

Rey nodded. "We just want to get back to the Resistance. Thank you for your help."

The smile Hondo gave her was oddly serious and sad, but all he said was, "You owe me, Master Jedi."

Rey didn't correct him, but Kylo saw that the title made her uncomfortable. He didn't correct the old Weequay either, just settled into his seat and looked around again. They were really leaving. They were going to get off of Batuu, and with a little luck, past the First Order blockade, to safety. And that was the start of a whole new problem – where was he supposed to go now? He couldn't go to the Resistance. To them he was a criminal and an enemy, especially without- his mother's influence, whatever Rey wanted him to be. And he might be ready to leave the First Order, may even be willing to admit that there would be a more positive outcome to the Resistance winning than the First Order, but he did not want to actually become part of the fight again. He knew he would have to talk to Rey, but he didn't particularly want to do that either. But, in a way, this was his own fault, and he would worry about it when they were actually away from Batuu. When they left behind the wreckage of his father's ship and his mother's body. At that thought, pain tightened his chest again, and he glanced at Rey, almost wanted to reach over for her hand. Instead, he said, "We made it."

She nodded at him, with a crooked smile. "We did." Somehow, he knew she was thinking of the same things he was. Some things had changed forever. Some had not. All he knew is that for better or worse, what they did next would affect them both, now.

A/N: I can't believe I'm back on this fic! But TROS helped me think of plot ideas and reminded me how much I love reylo, so hopefully I can get some good content added to this fic. As much as I liked TROS, I can tell you right now I would have done it differently and in this fic I intend to do that. XD I gotta remind myself what I was doing, but...

Please review, or come talk to me on Tumblr! Same Tumblr handle as always. :)