Road From Ruin: Star Wars Rebels

Chapter 7: Ayla Capítano

Azulia's P.O.V

I was rudely awakened the next morning by someone bashing in my door. It had shocked me out of my sleep at first, and I briefly allowed myself the pleasure of thinking that I'd imagined it and could go back to sleep, but my hopes were dashed as three solid knocks came from the other side of the metal sliding door again.

Groaning, I yelled "Coming!" much like I used to with an old friend in a morning. Crawling out of bed, I made myself presentable before opening the door to a young woman a little older than me, probably sixteen or seventeen.

She had fiery red hair cut into a choppy shoulder length style and a side fringe on the right side of her face. Her skin was pale and fair, flecked with freckles and she had clear green eyes as well as being a little on the short side. Her hand was poised to knock for a third time. Her face brightened and I instantly knew that she would be too optimistic for my liking.

"Ah, you must be Azulia Tautaski. Lovely to meet you. I'm Ayla Capítano" She chirped and I just gave her the stink-eye. "Anyway, I was sent to call you down to the weaponry. I imagine that you want your blaster back." She added. Ayla talked rapidly, as of she was voicing her thoughts as fast as they came to her. I then recalled that I had handed my blaster over to be recharged and have a few parts fixed last night.

"Uhh, sure." I responded groggily, slightly taken aback by the cheery walking flame that had just shown up at my door. I was still half asleep and I had a feeling that it was pretty early.

"Although, you probably want breakfast first. I'll give you ten minutes to get ready and we can head for the canteen. We can beat the crowd if we hurry." She smiled and I just shut the door in her face. Now the rebellion was just rubbing their dislike for me in my nose. For a moment, I considered just telling her to go away and that I would find the weaponry on my own, but after seeing the complex layout of the Hope yesterday, I wasn't willing to spend another hour of wandering around in circles.

Pulling on a navy jumpsuit with a small open back, I pulled a brush through my tangled hair until my locks were combed into submission. Fixing it in a quick high ponytail, I splashed some water over my face which chased off any remaining grogginess before glancing at myself in the tiny mirror and sighing.

For such a young face, I had pretty old eyes.

For some reason, I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Maybe it was just the fact that I was being dumped on a new planet soon and I definitely wouldn't admit it, but I didn't really want to go back to being a loner. Now that I'd seen the Ghost crew and been reminded of a sense of family, I suddenly felt like the loneliest person in the galaxy.

Another knock shook me from my brooding thoughts as I opened the door.

As I followed Ayla through the halls, I took the opportunity to try and map out some of the Hope. I gave up after five minutes and twenty-six seconds. Finally we came to a stop at the canteen and Ayla absentmindedly swiped a card through a scanner. I raised an eyebrow.

"You have security for the canteen?" I asked.

She nodded in confirmation. "It was a nightmare before we had them. People would get midnight cravings and sneak food from the kitchens which caused major issues with our rations, so General Tano proposed that we have cards that register. We have to hand the cards in at the end of the day and the system alerts someone if one hasn't been handed in theirs, so no-one can get into important places like weaponry, command, the canteen." She rushed as we walked into the almost empty canteen besides from a small group of pilots who looked exhausted. She noticed me looking at them as we walked past and added, "They'll have been on night watch. I can't imagine it being very fun, just endlessly circling the fleet all night to look out for intruders, but then again, I've always preferred two feet on the ground."