Chapter Twenty Four: Bondage

Disclaimer: I own nothing here, and we gonna speed yous away.

The sound of the Fathier's cries were sad and frightened as Rey pushed through the crowded street with BB-8 rolling close at her heels. The astromech had told her that his sensors determined the quadruped was a small one, but Rey had to wonder about that when she finally set eyes on the furry beast. The height of it's broad head would have easily reached her shoulders if she stood beside it, something she very much desired to do.

Unfortunately, the scene before her was not ideal for her intentions. The poor creature was tethered by a muzzle and pulled along by a young, scruffy looking human boy who was attempting to coax it forward, with little success. The pair were accompanied by an overweight, fancy dressed human male with a pompous air about him as he strode ahead barking orders. There was also a four armed alien of some sort trailing behind them, his face appearing as grotesque as his temperament with the way he cracked the whip in his hands whenever the Fathier stepped too far out of place.

The animal was becoming more terrified with each sparking crack, despite the boy's attempts to sooth it with a gentle touch to its head and words spoken into its long fuzzy ears, words Rey couldn't hear from where she stood. She could clearly hear the pompous man's impatient shouting, though. "Can't you control the beast, boy? If he's so unruly, perhaps I should reconsider purchasing him at all!"

It was then that Rey noticed the foursome's destination; a large cargo speeder equipped with a cage just barely suitable enough to accommodate the young Fathier.

"Sorry, sir," the boy replied with a thick accent, leading Rey to believe his mother tongue was not Basic. "He's just scared, never been away from his ma before."

"None of that concerns me, " the overweight man snapped derisively as he gestured to the speeder. "Only that you get this ill-tempered creature in the cage before the suns set."

The boy stopped in his tracks and raised chin defiantly in response, though his jittery charge continued to tug at the rope in his grip. "I'm a slave."

"Keep telling yourself that, kid," the man replied dismissively and crossed his arms impatiently. "Now hurry it up, before I change my mind!"

As the scene unfolded Rey couldn't help but clench her teeth together in aggravation. She could practically feel the boy's conflicted emotions as if they were her own. He hated being called a slave, he certainly didn't like this particular fat customer, he resented his whip-wielding taskmaster of a boss, and he dearly didn't want to hand over the young Fathier to such an uncouth buyer.

Rey was moving towards them before she even realized it, an idea forming in her mind when she noticed how the wealthy man had paused to stand near a pen full of Puffer pigs. Reaching out with the Force, she sent her influence into the Fathier's mind, effectively causing him to jerk and tumble sideways, right into the man, knocking him into the pen.

With a yelp, the man fell backwards into the muck, sending the frantic pigs squealing into the far corners of their enclosure, all of them having comically expanded to four times their normal size.

The pompous, now filthy, man was spitting atrocities from various systems by the time he had extracted himself from the mess. "Forget it! The beast clearly cannot be controlled!" He stormed off towards his speeder before the boy or his boss could so much as blink in his wake.

Rey smiled complacently at first, but hadn't anticipated the ugly alien's ire afterward. "What have you done, boy?" he snarled in a dialect she couldn't name and only just barely managed to translate in her mind.

"It's not fault!" the boy replied defensively as his small frame somehow continued to weather the Fathier's thrashing. "Your whip scares him and he misses his ma!"

"Quiet!" the thundering alien bellowed and snapped his whip at the ground, dangerously close to the boy's feet, though he didn't so much as flinch. "The sale is ruined! Take this insolent whelp back to the stable and put him in the box. It's time we broke him proper."

"Not the box!" the boy whined pleadingly. "Please no, boss."

"Quiet, I said!" Another crack of the whip and the snarling alien turned to stalk away. "Do as I say or I'm throwing you in with him!"

The threat seemed to subdue the boy's defiance and it wasn't until his boss was out of sight that he noticed Rey's presence nearby. He peered up to her curiously but warily griped the fidgeting Fathier's leash a little tighter. "Who are you? Are you a Jedi?" His eyes grew substantially larger when he noticed the lightsaber strapped to her back.

Rey smiled warmly at him and now that she was closer was able to get a better look at him. He had a light complexion, wore a brown hat over his black hair while the rest of him was clothed in a shabby shirt, jacket, pants and boots, all of which presented a number of stains and stitches. But the most interesting thing Rey noticed were his brown eyes. They reflecting a spark of clever intelligence that no doubt surpassed his young age, which she assumed could not be over ten years if his soft, undefined facial features were any indicator.

There was something else in his eyes though, something deeper, something familiar, yet Rey was certain she had never met him before in her life. She realized she was staring when the boy started to fidget and fuss with his charge, feeling uncomfortable under her piercing gaze. "I'm Rey, and I'm not exactly a Jedi yet," she finally said and turned her attention to the Fathier. "But I think I can help you out."

Channeling the Force again, she pushed simple, calming thoughts at the creature, subconsciously stepping closer to place a hand on his snout. The young Fathier ceased his wild thrashing and chuffed under her touch, baying almost appreciatively at her.

"What did you do?" the boy wanted to know as he blinked at her in astonishment. "It would have taken me an to get him calmed down this much!"

"I guess you could say I have a way with wild animals," Rey replied with a shrug and gave him a curious look. "I gave you my name but I don't know yours."

The boy offered a wide grin. "I'm Temiri, and this is Tomorrow's Promise," he said and nodded to his charge. "But I just call him Tom."

"Glad to meet you Temiri, and Tom, of course," Rey said and laughed when the beast bumped her shoulder for attention. "Oh, and this is Beebee-Ate," she added when the droid let out a sting of excited beeps.

"A real astromech?" Temiri gaped at the droid but didn't loose his hold on Tom's leash any. His gaze drifted back to Rey in astonishment. "Are you a starfighter pilot too?"

Rey smiled in response and tipped her head in a moment of consideration. "Well, I suppose I be, but not officially, no. Beebee is sort of loaned out to me for the moment." Looking around, she located the large building that Ben had entered some time ago. She guessed he would probably be while longer yet and something about this boy intrigued her. "Temiri, I don't suppose you could take me to see more Fathiers?"

The boy shifted nervously on his feet at the question but after glancing to Tom and back to Rey he nodded a bit hesitantly. "Usually only prospective buyers are allowed in the stables, but I think I can sneak you in for a quick look." He started to lead the way down the street and sent her a sidelong grin. "My friends will go crazy when they see I found a Jedi and an astromech!"