ghomrassen, guermessa, and chenini still ruled their night cloaked domain when a single set of feet strode from the base of the cliff palace. cutting through the structure at so early an hour painted an oddly peaceful picture of the reigning daiymo's headquarters. the audience chamber rested in silence when she passed, not a guard to be seen, alert or asleep. in the kitchen, only one aide could be heard bustling from within an adjoining storage room while three massive pots happily simmered atop the stove. further down the sloping path, slave i alone occupied the central hangar. fondness coloured the smile on rey's lips as she padded by, brushing the side of its weathered hull with her fingertips. the ship had served its master well for cycles upon end and deserved its rest.
from there she followed an adjoining hallway to a hidden exit, perched behind a jut of the foundation cliff.ย no light would break for another hour yet, granting rey enough time to relax her mind and reach for the force.
in the way of most deserts, the dunes of tatooine hummed while they slept. so much life scattered across the planet roared with vibrancy even at its most docile. rey could sense the trilling energy as she picked her way from rocky plateau to firm foundation, landing at last with a thud upon hard packed clay. her saber and quarterstaff were laid gently down beside her chosen perch at the edge of another rocky outcropping. with legs folded and back straightened, the young woman relaxed into encompassing awareness.
what at first manifested as a void soon bloomed into swathes of brilliant, indistinct colour. occasional flares of brightness interrupted the placid landscape with the same intensity as sudden sound. klicks away, rey felt a small herd of banthas stir around their clustered young as if sensing the impending dawn. sand worms lazily clicked at each other here and there from their deep burrows. nearby, a not yet full grown rancor still slept like a boulder. rey brushed her awareness gently across the young creature's forehead in affection, not wishing to wake it but aid its sleep with a sense of protection.
all these wonders carried on in silence until the earliest risers within the palace began to show themselves blinking in the fabric of the force. the brunette smiled, still deep within her meditation. the fingers of dawn had begun to crawl over the horizon, two suns imminent just out of sight like curious children emerging from their hiding places.
little noises ping-ponged down the same path rey had taken but further down the craggy hillside. fennec shand was the first of the noisemakers to still, choosing to prop herself against a stony wall outside the border of the combat arena. the perfect observer. other blips, visitors to the monastery or palace, gathered gradually on the steps of the rock. each of them strange, each of them curious, but each of them friends.
finally, one enormous, silent, but pulsing beacon of power exited his home to tread downward. amongst all the beauty offered by the force behind her eyes, this light was the one she desired most to follow.
one by one rey pulled her limbs from the icy lock of her inner focus so they worked together bringing her slowly to her feet. the strap of her quarterstaff wrapped about her shoulders, the weight of her saber called into her hand, and she was ready.
while tatooine's shining twins rose behind the great hill housing two bastions of religious devotion and powerful regency, heat gradually, gently cascaded over rocks and sand alike to warm the onlookers. many sets of eyes blinked and vocal chords tittered as she descended to her place in the arena opposite boba fett. quarterstaff was tossed to the side for the time being as rey readied to meet her buir with her yellow saber.
โ see we shall. the desert bears no loyalty to your years, โ the young woman grinned, hearing his good cheer fly through the armor. โ best two out of three, or until one of us yields? โ
