4 A Wookiee in Waiting

A very worried Wookiee sniffed the air woefully, gripping the crossbow firmly in his fuzzy mitts. Chewbacca hadn't seen Rey since the early afternoon when he'd caught her napping in his chair and had decided to go fishing and take advantage of the weird island vacation they were on. Remembering that smoked fish was one of the few things in the galaxy that Rey seemed to eat these days; he hoped to get another batch made before they left the island. Chewbacca had always loved Rey; he knew that she was meant for the Millennium Falcon- a sweet selfless little scavenger he found on the ship itself! Impressed by her overall mechanical knowledge of most things and the ability to carry a good conversation in Shryiiwook (his native Wookiee tongue) were just a few of the many things he loved about her. Above all things, he treasured her unwavering kindness and courage which inspired him to carry on even without Han Solo; she'd even managed to convince him to help scour the galaxy for his once murderous nephew. He couldn't help but miss Han horribly as he sadly sniffed for traces of his lost companion. As he stalked the rocky island for clues, his weary Wookiee mind drifted away to another time, to another vacation on an Endor Forest Moon.

A young awkward boy with messy dark hair was running as fast as he could to get ahead of his lumbering Wookiee caretaker. Ben wanted to find a good hiding spot this time because the big oaf always seemed to find him quite quickly; each search and rescue was rewarded with a life-threatening hug. The determined young hero reached a cliff's edge in the forest which lay above a roaring muddy river. The season had been especially rainy for the most part and the river was overflowing with the extra rainwater. Quickly catching his breath, the Padawan was leaning against a majestic old-growth which stood tall like a lone wooden tower on the edge of the cliff. The ancient tree beckoned Ben with it's mighty multitude of branches to climb it high enough to be out of his Uncle's reach. Ben seemed to effortlessly reach what he felt was a large solid branch and proceeded to remove the scratchy brown tunic he was wearing and the heavy cream colored Padawan robes now drenched in sweat. Though his sixteenth summer on Endor had been mostly rainy, this was a rare beautiful day and it filled Ben and the forest around him with Light.

He could see everything from up here! Ben could barely contain his excitement as he could see the Rebel camp behind him and across the river valley on the other side was the Ewok village. As cute and entertaining as they often were, Ben preferred to keep his distance because he had a mild allergy to most beasts with hair. Oddly his fuzzball Uncle seemed to be hypoallergenic.

"Where was that fuzzball, now?" Ben thought to himself as no sign of the Wookiee appeared to be anywhere. Slightly bored with hiding out, Ben drew out his blue lightsaber and practiced twirling it viciously while balancing on the tree branch. The shirtless teenage body was barely rippling with fresh muscles on his lean frame. An hour seemed to fly by as the young Jedi pretended to be in full combat with an invisible adversary. The battle felt very real to the shirtless knight as he swore he could feel his lightsaber crash against another saber, perfectly blocking his violent strikes each time. Ben suddenly vaulted himself up unto a higher limb above him, "Who has the high ground, now?" He mocked the legendary battle between his grandfather and his namesake; thrusting the lightsaber down at his imaginary foe. The saber had become slippery with perspiration from the boy's hand and he lost grip at that very moment dropping his weapon onto the branch where he'd planted his feet. Unable to catch himself, Ben heard a devastated Wookiee roar as he plunged helplessly into the river below. The drop into the freezing cold floodwater exploded unto his nerves, as Ben fought to remain conscious, the violent currents wrapped him up tight in their watery embrace.

With hardly a thought, Chewie threw his gear aside and dove into the muddy river after Ben; making a Wookiee-sized splash behind him. Chewbacca struggled to see or sniff out the drowning Padawan and the emotions of it all sent him to the very brink of insanity. A wild mane of wet hair finally surfaced; his eyes focused on the burnt branch above him; the river roared in his ears making it difficult to hear. Snorting water out of his nose, the Wookiee continued to tread water and survey the riverbanks all around him. As he sniffed the air, his panicked eyes caught a glimpse of the Padawan's river-wrecked tunic. Han Solo would surely kill him for this he thought; he couldn't even imagine the possible punishment from his favorite Princess if he'd lost their son. Mere minutes in the river seemed like a lifetime before the Wookiee's worried gaze finally spotted a bobbing mound of tangled wet dark hair and a barely breathing Ben Solo underneath. In a matter of parsecs Chewbacca scooped up the boy and nearly beat the river out of him on the muddy riverbank. A great big grateful smile lifted Ben's blue lips as he slowly regained consciousness in the Wookiee's arms. At the sight of Ben's awakening, Uncle Chewbacca unleashed another one of his life-threatening hugs.

The fond memory served to motivate the weary Wookiee as he caught a whiff of Rey's scent on the ridge above him. The sun was starting to set on the island and Chewbacca wondered why his friend had chose to wander off alone and without telling him what she was up to- a classic Han Solo move he thought. As he stood out on top of the ridge, Chewie stared hard at the choppy sea. The sky darkened at the edges with ominous clouds but the sunset remained a pretentious blood orange. The salty wind swirled up around him and stirred up the many fragrant smells of the island but his genius sense of smell could still detect the faint traces of Rey, which continued to lead him on to parts of the island unknown to him before.

Instinctively, Chewie gripped the heavy crossbow tightly to his chest as he followed his nose and his hopeful heart further into the dark side of the island. He knew that the force would be with him just as it always had been.  On the other side of Achto, a very concerned BB-8 stood guard at the helm of the Millennium Falcon. He knew it would be his responsibility now to keep the pesky Porgs from causing anymore damage to their only ticket home.