☆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀᴡɴ ᴏꜰ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ☆ ᴘᴏᴇ ᴅᴀᴍᴇʀᴏɴ

nine

Nova felt desperate breaths squeeze from her lungs as she weaved between crowds of people, trying to keep her eyes on Rey, who was now stood alone. The various people who travelled and grouped together in the cantina continued to block her sight, creating an obstacle course as Rey kept dipping in and out of Nova's sight. 

Forcing herself out from the tightly-nit crowd, Nova found herself in an open space but Rey and BB-8 was nowhere in sight. "Kriff.." She muttered as she stepped around, observing her surroundings to try and locate the scavenger. As she turned around in her location, she bumped into a basilisk man; making him spill his drink down himself. The large man observed the accident before his gaze landed on Nova, "Kriff." She muttered. 

The man tossed his cup to the side, making it clatter loudly against the stone flooring; in a swift movement he lunged forward towards Nova. The girl quickly weaved beneath his arms, twisting to a position behind him. The man turned on his heel and looked down at her with a glare. He swung an arm down to punch her, which the girl dodged as she stepped back. 

The basilisk let out a hissed grunt and began to swing his arms down at her, which Nova ducked beneath and stepped to the side to avoid his blows. She refused to fight back, already aware that she has landed in an exposing situation and did not want to make matters any worse. The surrounding crowds of drunken guests started to notice the commotion, and more so, the girl who avoided the large man's attacks without much movement, as if she were stood on a tight rope.

Nova ducked beneath another arm and as she turned she saw a quick flash sprint through the cantina and out of the doors. "Rey.." She exhaled, before a large fist struck her across the face, throwing her onto the ground and out of her distracted state. A grunt escaped from her lips as she knelt down to regain her composure, making the man release a low laugh. "Not so tough, are you girl?" He bellowed, as Nova wiped a dribble of blood which leaked from her lip. She raised her eyes to meet his and looked back with a hardened stare, before inhaling a deep breath.

She could feel the faint dust floating in the air around her, and the sweat which rolled down the side of his face as he looked back at her; his dry skin cracking as his smile grew. He lunged forward once again, and Nova rolled out of the way and onto her feet before kicking him from behind the knees, forcing him down onto the ground. 

While the man became destabilized, a loud shriek rung through her ears as shivers instantly ran up her arms, filling her with an ill feeling. Her attention was quickly drawn to the front doors and without another moment's thought, she sprinted through the crowds and out of the doors.

Nova ran down the steps and into the main courtyard where she looked up at the sky above, where the song grew louder and louder; the chills scraping up her spine with a knife. The sound of heavy footsteps approached from behind her before a hand smacked down onto her shoulder, before she was forced to face Han who looked down at her with a disapproving gance. "Kid, what are you--what was that? Do you want to die?" Han questioned, looking at the girl who was caught up in a fight. 

She did not utter a word as she turned her attention back to the sky above her, irritating Han. "Nova, I know you're not like the other two; you have experience. But that doesn't mean you can pick fights wherever you go." Han lectured, receiving no acknowledgement from the girl. 

Han frowned, looking up at the sky then back at her. "What are you looking at?" He asked, before a sudden shiver consumed her body, filling her eyes with an empty void. She could not say a word, but instead pointed her gloved finger up. He followed her gaze where his eyes landed on a faint red streak which spread further and further across the sky. "What..."

The red line soon separated into five sperate streaks which all continued to spread into different routes. Nova's eyes stung as she watched one streak come to an end, a circular explosion pasted at the end of the line. Her eyebrow twitched at the sight as her eyes darted to another line which was stopped by another explosion. Locking onto a third line, her eyes honed into a distant planet which was barely visible from her location.