The trading post on Eckarr was, as per usual, filled with a great many people that Ikedde would very much like to avoid, from slave traders to card swindlers, animal fighters and beyond. Many of them spilled into the bar next door.

Eckarr's buildings were designed rather strangely; in fact, Ikedde wasn't quite sure you could really call them buildings, what with three walls, a roof, and no floor. The strange gravel beneath them that covered the entire planet had long been packed down enough to create a stable place to stand. She kept her satchel close to her, wisely keeping the fire that burned in her eyes, carrying herself just so. It would make trouble a lot less likely; she'd found that out long ago, on her very first trek out to the trading post. She made her way into the post, looking around for a familiar- and trusted- face.

Well- trusted was relative, of course. She sat down in front of a Togruta girl named Essohta. Her scarlet skin was covered in white markings, and her crimson eyes were amused. "Hello, child," she said.

Wordlessly, Ikedde fished out a large bag of captured riytt from her satchell. The small rodents squirmed and squeaked as they swam around each other. They were content, though; it likely felt no different than the tiny, overpopulated holes they made their nests.

Ikedde always felt guilty trading living things. However, she took comfort in the fact that Essohta needed riytt for their venom, and would therefore keep them alive.

"You found a nest, I see," Essohta said delightedly, gently taking the bag from her. She eyed the rat-like creatures fondly. "Did you drain it?"

"No, of course not," Ikedde said. "Had to leave some to repopulate- enough that they won't leave and make a new nest. Now, I've got a steady supply of them,"

"Smart, if it works," Essohta said. "Either way, this lot is worth quite a bit. Why don't you come down to my keep tonight, I don't have anything worth this much- unless you're looking for a slave,"

Ikedde tried to keep the scowl off her face, taking the bag back. "No, I very much am not."

"Watch your tone," Essohta warned in a sing-songy whisper, glancing around the post.

"Since when are you in the slave business?"

"I'm not," said Essohta. "But I found a young boy- well, maybe around your age- off near the pits. He had riytt swarming on him- lost a good chunk of meat on his thigh, his waist. Absolutely loaded with venom. Took about, oh, three months to heal him up- and more antidote and supplies than I had to waste. The only way I'm not totally screwed is if I sell him off,"

Ikedde tried to keep the frown off her face. She couldn't come up with a response to that, so she stayed silent, digging through her satchel to find something else Essohta might want.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Essohta whispered. "I'm not going to sell him to Ahto or Rojxe. I'm not going to damn some kid to a life like that. If you did buy a slave, I know you wouldn't treat him like that."

That soothed Ikedde a bit, though the whole thing still didn't sit well with her. She pulled out a bag of greens, though she doubted the Togruta would want them, what with a garden of her own. To Ikedde's surprise, though, she took it and examined it. At Ikedde's inquisitive, mildly concerned expression, she sighed reluctantly. "Riytt got out, ruined my entire harvest. I've got nothing to eat and nothing to trade- hell, half of my plants have been rendered totally useless. Trying to find new seeds is gonna be hell…"

When Ikedde left the post, she'd gotten seventy three ecklorse, two ration tickets, and a few tools from Essohta, two med kits and some grub from a human, and several much-needed spare parts for her ship from Ahto himself. She'd had to rent a cart to carry it all, though, bringing her down to sixty eight ecklorse.

"Bring your brother, tonight!" called Essohta.

Fat chance. Ikedde walked down the well-trodden path towards her home; however, when the gravel path gave way to loose rocks that were entirely too easy to sink into, she hopped on the hovering cart, directing it with the controls. It almost felt like flying a rudimentary ship.

Zjekko had left the door open for her. She gritted her teeth angrily; anyone could get in with the door open, not just her. She zoomed up the ramp on the cart, taking it round with her to unload everything where she needed it. Rations and grub in the cockpit, tools and parts where they were needed, medkits in the medbay. By the time she was done, she'd had it so long that cart beeped cheerily, indicating that she owed another ecklors. If she didn't pay, of course, it would just follow her around, collecting more debt, until Ahto found her- and there was a tracking system on all of the carts. Once, Orreadus had tried to destroy one to hide the evidence. Apparently- according to Ahto, anyway- the carts were worth enough that Orreadus was now stuck working in the fields from sun up to down, sleeping in chains in the barn. A slave.

Ikedde popped another ecklors into the cart, then pressed the button to send it back. It sped happily out of the ship, and she closed the door behind it. Realizing her brother hadn't come found her to check the loot, she walked toward the sleeping pods.

He was asleep, of course, the lazy oaf. He was older than Ikedde by three and a half cycles, and yet he still left all the work to her. She kicked him awake, and he startled, hitting his head on the top of his pod and then letting out some rather creative language. Sadistically pleased with herself, Ikedde all but skipped back to her tools. A furious Zjekko followed her, feet stomping, but she was light and quick on her feet. She was buried into pipes and wires, part and tools in hand, by the time he caught up to her. She could barely see his pretty face from where she was, alight with anger. His curly brown hair fell in his face, his lashes long, cheeks round and pink, lips soft. If it weren't for his broad shoulders and lithe, boyish build, one might easily mistake him for a young girl, despite being twenty-two, nearly twenty-three. Ikedde got to work on the ship.

"And what exactly made you think it was alright to-"

"You left the damn door open again, Zjekko," she said, sounding tired. "Riytt could have gotten in. Thieves. Murderers. Worse."

"Worse did get in," he said softly. Alarmed, Ikedde looked over at him, feeling her heart sink. "You, ya bully," he snapped. Ikedde seethed and returned to her task.

"You're obnoxious, Zje," she accused sincerely.

"I was just sleeping!"

"While I did everything, as per usual!"

He said nothing, just grumbled the way he always did. Once, it hadn't bothered her to do all the work. Once, Ikedde and Zjekko had been close, though, and she didn't feel like a robot being forced to everything while Her Master got to lounge around all day, pretending she didn't exist unless he had some great gripe with her.

"I miss Mom and Dad," she breathed. She hadn't meant to say it aloud, but when she did, she was happy about it. Maybe Zjekko would soften, glance over his shoulder and say, with saddened, empathetic eyes, I do, too, kiddo.

Instead, he froze in place, tensing. A sense of dread washing over Ikedde. "You don't even remember them, do you?" he asked. Not as coldly as he could have, but not nearly as gently as he ought to. Ikedde's heart throbbed as it ripped in two.

"Of course I remember them," she said, trying not to snarl, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. "I was six, not two." She could only remember snippets, of course. Mom's curly hair in her face, her shimmering blue eyes. Dad's golden beard, his hooked nose, the way his cheeks looked like sponge cake. Dad had been big and tall and soft and strong. Mom had been gentle and sweet and funny and loud.

"Whatever," muttered Zjekko, sitting on the grating. "What'd you get?"

She told him, and he grumbled angrily. "I told you to give up on those stupid parts. We're never going to fix this ship. We're never going to leave. It's one thing if we have a surplus to waste it, but we need more food than-"

"Oh, shut up, would you?" she snapped. "I've still got those riytt to trade with Essohta, and they're worth a lot. Besides, you get no say with what I do with any of my things until you help out in any sort of way at all."

He grumbled again. "Whatever."

She mocked him silently, careful to keep her face hidden from his. She definitely wasn't bringing him now. By the time she finished with all the repairs- hopefully, the last of them, or she might have been a bit more bothered by Zjekko's insistence that they'd never get off this god forsaken planet- dusk was growing ever nearer. She slipped into clean clothes then kicked the wall beneath Zjekko's pod. Entirely awake, he scowled at her. "I'm off to Essohta's. Close that damned door behind me, Zjekko Kenobi."

"Yeah, yeah," he snapped. "Just leave me alone. And make sure you get something to do all day. We'll go mad stuck here with no fun,"

"We'll see," Ikedde said, then set out towards Essohta's large house.

It was beautiful, in a way very unbefitting of Eckarr. Every building here was simple and rustic, the weather mild enough to allow most things to be unprotected, exposed to the elements. It hardly even rained, the only real reason not to just leave everything outside. Essohta's house was like a mansion, overlooking the ships and shacks and crude structures everyone else on this planet inhabited. Ikedde walked up the stone slabs leading to the front door, past the visibly destroyed gardens. She knocked on the door, and moments later, Essohta appeared. She'd removed her coat and boots, now standing in a silky, provocative dress made of translucent ribbon, her more sensitive areas only protected by extra layers of the same ribbon. The black looked striking against her bright skin and white markings. Ikedde had always been more jealous of Essohta's beauty than she'd ever admit.

Zjekko would give nearly anything to see Essohta (or any girl, really) in such a state. It felt like yet another one-upping to have left him home.

"Hello, child," Essohta said brightly, alcohol slurring her words. She took a step back. "I was beginning to think you'd sold your pretties to someone else,"

"Never," Ikedde said. "Wouldn't want to ostracize my best trading partner,"

"Mmm, precisely," said Essohta. "Now, follow me,"

They walked through the grand parlour, through a sitting room, through a dining room, to what appeared to be a sunroom, full of tradable goods and one boy, probably between Ikedde and Zjekko in age, sitting on a chair. He wore loose beige cotton, his red hair pulled back in a bun, his pale face dotted in freckles, chin covered in a beard. It made him look slightly older than he probably was. He looked up to see her, eyeing her with almost- fearful resolve.

"I'd like to advise you take him," Essohta said gently as Ikedde handed her the riytt. "You know how sometimes we- we burden the other so as to keep ourselves afloat, but only if we know the other can handle it?"

Feeling a sense of reserved dread, Ikedde glanced over at Essohta, whose eyes had grown remorseful. "No, Essie. I don't."

"Well," she said. "Remember when I sold you food and then sold it to someone else, and you didn't get any?"

"Yes," said Ikedde in a low voice.

"Well, it's like that. I needed the money, and you didn't starve to death." Essohta said, leaning against the doorway. A look of worry fluttered into her eyes. "Oh, you really ought to have brought Zjekko,"

"What did you do, Essie?" Ikedde asked as the dread grew in her stomach.

"He'll be fine, I'm sure," said Essohta. "Now- again, I recommend you buy the boy. That will take up most of the worth of the riytt, but I can throw in some more rations, perhaps-"

"I need fuel. Lots of it."

"You can't afford-"

Ikedde fixed Essohta with a scowl, and almost to Ikedde's surprise, the woman buckled. "Fine. See- you're screwing me over for your needs now! Friends provide for one another in times of need."

"What's your name?" she asked the man sitting on the chair.

"Augen," he said.

"Well, nice to meet you, Augen. Help me grab these fuel cans, please," Ikedde said. The two of them took two each.

"You're taking all of it?" asked Essohta. "That's almost enough to cover the cost of the riytt on their own!"

"You put brother in danger!" exclaimed Ikedde.

"I told you to bring-"

"I'm taking all of it. Goodnight."

"One more thing," called a drunken Essohta from the doorway as Ikedde and Augen made their way down the stone slabs. "You'll want to visit the trading post first. To understand what's happening,"

"You're a pain, Essie!" cried Ikedde.

"I hope you brought money, you'll want a cart to carry all those cans!" There was a bit of bitterness in her voice.

As they approached the trading post, Ikedde handed another can to Augen. "Sorry about this," she said softly. "You're free to go, after tonight- but I might need help. Gods only know what Essohta did."

Surprise flooded Augen's blue eyes, then relief. "Thank you," he breathed.

"Please, don't mention it," said Ikedde. "Besides, I already got what I needed- fuel.

"Anyway- here's the plan. We sneak near the trading post and find out- whatever the hell we're meant to find out. We hop on a cart and fly back to my ship. You're welcome to go wherever you'd like after that, or stay if you please. For the night or for good- but if you stay for good, you'll be working for your keep. I've already got one freeloader, I don't need another,"

"Alright," he said. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

They crept up to the trading post, crouching in the gravel, largely camouflaged in the dark and in their grey-beige clothing. Augen's hair was like a beacon, though, so she motioned him about four feet away, into the darker shadows.

Stormtroopers, fully armed, harassing Ahto. What the hell did Essohta do? Neither Ikedde nor Zjekko were wanted. Neither did anything illegal. She crept up into the closed bar and hugged the wall separating the two. Iffu, the bartender, said nothing, just cleaning the bartop. He had no love for the First Order, and Ikedde had never caused him any trouble; he wouldn't give her up randomly. Augen stuck to the shadows, where his hair caught no light. She motioned towards the carts in a line at the side of the building, and he climbed onto one, setting the cans down silently. He left room for her to drive. Good.

"And you're certain she hasn't been back since noon?" asked a stormtrooper in a mechanical voice.

"Ah's wuh'uh been tellin'yas, I 'as," said Ahto. "She wen'a speedin' auv to'er ship, no'in ta be seen or 'eard 'round 'ere, avta dat, no sir,"

"We checked her ship," snapped another stormtrooper. "No sign of her, just her brother."

"Ain' 'e anuv vo'yas, 'en?"

"No. We need them both."

"Oy 'av no idea where she ca be, lads- I'd tell yas ivven I did, yeah?"

"She might be out lookin' for riytt," said another voice- Joikke, Ahto's snot-nosed daughter. "Can find 'em down by water. Here's the area she prefers," Ikedde could hear the sound movement, and could all but picture Joikke leading them to the map on the wall.

Vauhz popped out of the trading post, glancing down at her. Thank the Gods it's him, she thought. 'What am I wanted for?' she mouthed to him.

"Oh- pardon me," said Vauhz, turning round. "What exactly is Miss Kenobi wanted for?"

"None of your business," snapped a stormtrooper.

"I am terribly sorry," said Vauhz, narrowing his eyes. "But if you cannot tell me why you are hunting down my serf, then I cannot allow you on my land."

The sound of a weapon readying, then shutting off. "That will be quite alright," said a surprisingly calming woman's voice, still with that familiar stormtrooper air. "She is suspected of treason."

"Treason?" he asked, tensing. Vauhz did have love for the First Order, and might very well turn her over for that. "Pardon me?"

"We suspect her to be sympathetic to, if not part of, the Resistance."

"So, you're only going to question her," said Vauhz, relaxing.

"As long as she's innocent, yes."

"Well, she's right here."

It was in that moment Ikedde had to make a decision; run, or let herself be questioned. Common sense said to surrender. She knew she had nothing to do with the Resistance, and she knew that as cruel as the First Order could be, they generally left everyday people alone. But something was whispering inside of her- the same thing that helped her find riytts, that helped her bargain at the trading post, that helped her teach herself to fix that damned ship- told her to run. They didn't want to question her; they wanted to capture her.

And they'd already gotten Zjekko.

She darted to the cart, jumping onto it and dropping the can. The stormtroopers started firing immediately, but she dodged each blast. She popped a coin into the slot, and it beeped to life. She zoomed off faster than the carts were meant to go, dropping instinctively down into a crouch before she could be thrust off the cart from the wind. Augen was terrified, and he winced every time a blast hit the side of the cart, staying low to avoid being hit.. Ahto was hollering laughter; the woman, in a chrome uniform, was hollering orders. The stormtroopers hopped on crafts of their own, designed to go much faster. The only thing working in Ikedde's favor was her intimate knowledge of the land- that, and the whispered urges from that strange… Force…

She zigged and zagged, toying with them, trying to get them to crash. Augen was struggling to keep the fuel inside the cart- almost as much as he was struggling to keep himself inside the cart. It was surprisingly easy for Ikedde to dodge, as if she could intuit each blast with just enough time to lean or duck out of the way.

"You're insane!" he screamed. He looked over at the stormtroopers. "It's not my fault! I'd jump if I could!"

"Coward!" she screamed.

"Traitor!" he countered.

"I didn't do anything! Do you hear me? I'm innocent!"

"Then why are you running?" asked the chrome woman.

"Because you're shooting at me! You kidnapped my brother, and now you're shooting at me!"

She wanted to drive over the pits- she could really lose them there- but she knew they'd just send stormtroopers to wait at her ship. There probably already were some there. She cursed under her breath, wondering how she was going to get out of this.

The ship door was open, of course. For once, she didn't mentally curse Zjekko for that- primarily, because it couldn't be his fault. She zoomed atop it and closed the door behind them; two stormtroopers ran round the corner as it closed. Augen raised his arms immediately in surrender; Ikedde did the same, walking forward, pretending to be shocked to see them inside.

"All this fuss for an innocent little girl," muttered one of them, turning her around, putting her arms behind her back. She head butted him before he could cuff her and she grabbed his gun; before the other could whack her with his electric stick, she shot him, then the other. A rush of sadness and grief flooded her.

"Oh, Gods," she whined. "I've killed them." She looked over at Augen as if he could offer any comfort. He stared down at their bodies, looking as sick as Ikedde felt. She tossed him the stick then kept going, searching; no Zjekko, no more stormtroopers. She raced to the fuel to take it to the tank; she could hear their ship fast approaching. The ground soldier's blasters couldn't damage this ship, but their large, daunting ship could. She filled the tank as quickly as she could move, then ran to the cockpit. "Augen! Get here, now!"

He ran forward, looking terrified, disgruntled. "We're going to die," he said.

"We're not,"

"There's not way we're getting away from here," Augen argued.

"We will,"

"How do you plan to rescue your brother from the First Order- and Captain Phasma, of all people! I'd bet General Hux and Kylo Ren are in that ship as we speak!"

"I don't," she admitted softly.

Augen paused. "You're not saving your brother?"

"I know Zjekko," she admitted softly. "He is innocent. He will be compliant. They won't hurt him."

"Then why are you running?"

"I may be innocent, but I am not compliant. I want nothing more than to be off this planet and as far away from it as I can get." She started up the ship and turned on all shields, then zoomed up, close to the ship. She was too small for their weapons to work at such close range, if she kept moving. "And, trust me, he'll be more than happy to be released and find he doesn't have to deal with me anymore," she added sadly.

"You don't get along?" he asked as she searched for a relatively safe place to go.

"He hates me," she said miserable. "And this ship, and what I do, and what I buy. Maybe it's fate that we get separated,"

Jakku. The epitome of nowhere. She set a course for an L rather than directly to it, hoping that might throw off the enemy if they really cared enough to track her that far. "Get ready for hyperspace, Augen,"

"God, I hate space travel," he muttered. And then, they were off- barrelling towards the nothing location she'd set out for them. "Where are we going?"

"Jakku,"

"I've never heard of Jakku," he said with a frown.

"Exactly," she said.

Suddenly, white-clad arms grabbed the stick that Augen had already set down, then whacked him with it. He cried out and fell just as Ikedde shot him, bewildered. "I searched the whole ship- I don't understand-" Without thinking, she glanced down at the blaster. It was set to stun.

They hadn't been trying to kill her. For the allegedness of her 'crime', that made sense, but generally the First Order didn't take very well to people running. They want me alive for something, she thought. But what?

She straightened Augen in his chair, then dragged the stormtrooper to a sleeping pod and locked him in, then the other. They'd be the problem of whoever she traded this ship to. Then, she made her way back to the cockpit, where Augen was still out cold. She stared at the brilliant blue of hyperspace, something she'd never seen before.

Beautiful.

It was in that moment of tranquility that she first began to miss her brother. A little bit of worry crept into the back of her mind, but she ignored it, failing to realize that it was that Force, the one that never seemed to be wrong. She hoped he'd be happier alone. He always said he would be.