Forever Drawn to You-A Reylo Story

Chapter 3- Rey of Niima

Rey Palpatine was born in the Village of Niima to loving parents in the southern arid lands of the Jakku desert. 

An eight-year-old Rey was cheerfully giggling at the neighbor boy Finn whom was her best friend. He was only a few years older than Rey, and they adored one another. They were playing in the courtyard on the steps of a small sand dwelling that was her family home. Finn's mother was watching the children  from her window seat next door as she did most days while her husband and Rey's parents worked in the outpost market.

Due to the dry climate, lack of plentiful water and fertile soil in which to grow food, most of the people in Niima were impoverished. Only the most resourceful of folks survived, which were mostly the people of trades. There were some that managed to have a little more than others and no one fully understood where their means came from.

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Young Finn was stumbling around the ground taking large thumping steps towards Rey who was laughing uncontrollably. Finn was clumsily making fun of the portly goods trader Unkar Plutt who had more credits than anyone else in the small village. Plutt is an unkind man whom employed most of the people of Niima with despicably low wages. Plutt had several slaves as well who worked only for food to survive.

His slaves were all young children who were orphaned. He tells everyone he is doing the orphans a favor by allowing them to work for him, but the villagers knew better. 

The children are just the right size to crawl through the all the caves and underground passages from a long-lost civilization that lies hidden underneath the outpost. He has the children searching for priceless artifacts and metals that he sells off to neighboring lands through the regular trade routes. Plutt is only one of a few that even knew the caves were down there, only finding out about the caves when one of his slaves attempted to escape through a small hole in the wall of his food cellar. The child returned a few days later after exploring from the urgent need to eat. It was only when Plutt offered them food for information that he found out what was down there. It is a secret he keeps to himself and his slaves. If they tell, he will end them. 

Rey was playing with Finn when they heard the yelling and screaming from the village center, they looked up to see arrows flying towards the outpost. Her survival instinct kicks in and she quickly grabbed her staff and tugged on her friends arm to go. He was about to follow her when Finn's mother called to them to "get into the house NOW!" Finn turned his head as he walked through the threshold, he watched Rey dart off towards the rocky hills in the back of their dwellings. He instinctively understood where she was going as they play there all the time. It was their secret hiding place. He wished he could go with her and take his mother too. Though she would not fit through all the narrow passages to get into the main cave. Instead he and his mother would hide in a pantry closet under some sacks of food with daggers at the ready in their hands.                                          

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**Notes: Short chapter to set up next chapter. This story is taking me to places I never thought it would. I decided to just go with it, and let it flow. This is my first online story. I hope you enjoy it!