fever dreams ; kylo ren

v. goodnight, neve

Neve decided she'd been walking entirely too long without any sign of life, civilization, or BB-8. The night was ending, the sun rising and turning the sky and the desert a nice shade of orange. Much like her hair. 

It wouldn't be long before the sun settled high in the sky, its rays beating down on her skin. Leaving a wash of red irritation over her skin. The sun and the heat never were her friends. She came from a snow planet, where her skin would be red from blood rushing to warm her. Not burn her.

But the burn of her skin didn't compete with the pain she felt in her chest. The guilt of what she'd done weighed heavy on her shoulders, her thoughts had been haunting her throughout the entire night and into the day.

She'd left them.

She'd left Poe, the villagers.

They had needed her. She was the only one who gave them a fighting chance, and she knew that. Yet she still left. 'You coward. What's wrong with you? You weren't trained like this.' The voice in her head berated her.

She thought of Luke. Her and Kylo--Ben's teacher. Neve never though he'd failed Ben, but he did fail her. He'd left her when she needed someone to stay. Ben had abandoned her, then Luke followed, leaving nothing behind but a protocol droid and a dead R2 unit. 'Wasn't I?' A voice of doubt filled her head, a voice that didn't sound like her own.

Exposure was getting to her. She was exhausted and fatigued. Thirstier than she'd ever been before. Her body ached and her skin burned. 'Just sit, rest for a moment.' She told herself, collapsing into the sand. 

The granular material offered her no reprieve, the sand being painfully hot. But she had to weigh the benefits. Endure added heat for a few moments to rest her bones. 

She rolled onto her back, eyes closing to block the Jakku sun from her eyes. She sighed, the tension in her body releasing as she exhaled. A mistake, that was. Once her eyes closed, she couldn't will them to open. Exhaustion took over, as she slowly lost awareness, her abusive thoughts silencing as she drifted into unconsciousness...

-

Neve awoke to the sound of dragging, to the sound of sand crunching underneath her. She could feel her body moving. Her eyes felt as they were glued closed when she pried them open. The light from the sun burned her retinas, making her squint against the light. There were no solid objects, only blurry things blocking the sun in some parts. It looked like...rope?

"Breeeee!" Something wailed from somewhere right before something collided with Neve's body. The woman groaned, moving to push the thing away, only to realize she couldn't. Her limbs were restricted.

She felt around, the abrasive texture of braided fibers greeting her hands. Rope. But it was patterned...it enclosed her. 'Net.' Net?

Her ears were assaulted by a series of beeps and whirs, some sort of sawing noise, the sun being blocked by a spherical shape. A still shape. She wasn't moving anymore.

Before she could open her mouth do grumble something, the wailing started again, the round object escaping her vision. The wail was accompanied by speaking...something aggressive and foreign to Neve. And those panicked beeps. They reminded Neve of something. Reminded her of BB-8.

BB-8! That was BB-8! She'd finally found him!

Her eyes shot all the way open then, taking in her surroundings. She confirmed that she was in a net. And that BB-8 was also being trapped in one by some alien creature. 

Neve immediately reached for her lightsaber, only to find it missing. She could have sworn her heart stopped in that second. "Hey!" She shouted, reaching her hands through the net, now that she was coordinated. She grabbed a fistful of sand, tossing it towards BB-8 and the creature. As if it would do anything.