The Little Things In Our Souls

Rey was too stubborn to just walk away from the place that Luke had so obviously called home, no matter how long ago he had been here nor how long he had been here. She was focused, trying to consider all of the options. Where would I hide a clue? And she would move to the spot that she thought was a viable option, only to stop and settle her hands on her hips, eyes sizing up the room. Nothing had turned up and despite the sinking feeling that continued to grow the longer she searched. The longer Xander just stood there and especially when he tried to get her to leave. "How the hell can you give up that easily?!" Rey demanded as she turned to face him. Her eyes widened as he shouted, bracing herself as items began to swirl around in the air. Instinct kicked in and she grabbed the staff that had been strapped to her back, apprehensive as to what was coming her way.

When things settled, her eyes fell on the book that landed between them. Rey's heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of a little piece of folded up paper land on the floor. She took a hesitant step forward before glancing back up to Xander, who looked just as annoyed as before his little tantrum, if not more so.

Stepping forward, Rey knelt to pick up the piece of paper, careful not to damage it. She had no way of knowing how long it had been here, how fragile it was. Swinging her staff back over her shoulder, Rey took a seat on the edge of the bunk. She began to unfold the paper, bit by bit. Her hands were shaking so bad - in her heart, she knew this had to be some sort of clue to Luke's whereabouts. But what if it wasn't? Rey closed her eyes, taking an elongated deep breath before opening her eyes again. She undid the last fold, eyes scanning the paper quickly.

Rey read over the paper time and time again, brows knitting together. She knew it was pointing them in a direction, that much was evident by the answer to the riddle. The only problem was that she didn't know what the answer actually was. Rey blew out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding before standing. She made her way out of the small hut, stalking toward Xander that stood by the edge of the cliff.

Shoving her hand out in front of him, paper between her fingers, Rey glared up at him. "This is a clue. It's telling us to go somewhere and I don't know the answer. Where? If we go there and there's nothing, then we'll give up but you can't deny that there's a reason we're here. And that we found this clue. It's a trail that we have to follow, Xander," she insisted urgently, waving the small piece of paper in his face. "Please."

Xander had been standing out there, enjoying the nice breeze and thinking of maybe throwing himself off the cliff at this very moment, for he was so tired and didn't want to do anything and not bother with all these searches and dramas. Not only that, but he lost his cool again and it bothered him. Every time he lost his control over his force, he felt he slipped further and further into madness. He was problematic then, was problematic now.

His mind calmed eventually though and he regained some sense and simply stared at the sea, the wind blowing all around him. He didn't have a choice anymore. If Rey found something, he'd have to go. There was no free will with a contract like the sorts of which he signed with the Resistance. He swore softly.

Suddenly there was a paper and a hand in front of him, and a girl grouching up at him. He stared at it and scowled at the name that Rey was pointing to. "Vers Moun T'Chae. Temple of the Three Stars." He muttered almost instantly. The place was freakishly Jedi-only, a beautiful place but so abandoned in its forest that nobody ever wanted to go there and few Jedi's actually ever managed to find their way safely to and meditate. Those that could were said to find great calming in there, great thoughts and if one conceived a child there the child were thought to be blessed. The latter bit Xander softly laughed at, stupid bullshit. But generally, if you wanted to peace or to hide, and you were a Jedi, you would most likely go there because getting through that forest was worse than getting shot. The animals, beasts and fauna would kill you if you were not Force sensitive. Oh and to top it all off, the noxious gases that hovered above the marsh grounds that were everywhere would make you vivid and it was rumoured mermaids in the lakes would drag you down.

Except nobody knew about this place unless you were a Jedi at a certain training level and the path to travel to it was opened to one. But few ever went, simply because it was so dangerous.

He narrowed his eyes and looked over again, suddenly suspicious. A trail we have to follow? He couldn't help scrunch up his face apprehensively, "Oh hell no. Please tell me that's not a place we have to go."

Covering his face with one hand, he gently cursed.

[Swaggy name for a temple, right. Place doesn't exist in SW; I think.]

"Vers Moun T'Chae," Rey tested when Xander finally gave her the answer that she had been looking for. Her face scrunched up, noticing that she hadn't quite got the pronunciation right. "Vers Moun T'Chae," she tried again, seemingly more satisfied this time around. She gave a slight nod of her head, chewing on her bottom lip as she stared out at the ocean, standing beside Xander. She looked back up to him when he spoke, looking genuinely confused by his words. "Of course we have to go, Luke wants us to go there for a reason. Now it's our job to find out why."

Rey took one last look out over the ocean before turning, setting off for the steps that would lead them back to their ship. She didn't bother to look back, knowing that Xander would eventually follow. Even if it took him forever to get over the fact that this journey was going to be extended.

Reaching the ship after what did feel like hours yet again. She ran up the ramp, excitement beginning to bubble up inside of her. It wouldn't be long now. As she stepped on, Rey's stomach growled, alerting her to fact that they did, indeed, need to eat more than just a handful of snacks stretched over hours.

Greeted by BB-8, Rey began to fill the little robot in on the events that had taken place. Careful to avoid the topic of Xander's tantrum, suspecting the knowledge of it would be enough to garner yet another shock. Rey busied herself with putting together a sandwich for each of them. It was the most she knew how to make - anything more extensive was far too much to her. It was still far more flavourful than what she had grown up with.

"I made you a sandwich if you want it. My cooking skills aren't quite up there or I would have done something else," Rey spoke when she spotted Xander entering the room. Her gaze was wary, knowing that he was likely still in a mood just as bad as earlier.

Xander wished they would go anywhere but this place. Suddenly even having Luke located here seemed like a better option. Though on second thoughts maybe not. Xander hesitated some before following Rey back to the ship though he did so slowly and less enthusiastically, even less than having gotten off the ship in the first place.

He was greeted at the ship by BB-8 and a sandwich from Rey, which he looked at uncertainly, took it with a small sound of what should have been a ‘thanks’ and gave it a taste. He did his best to not let disappointment show on his face. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. In the best, he was surprised she made something edible and not some Jakku-originated dust ball dissolved in water and call it a porridge. The sandwich wasn’t going to last either. He took his coat off and set it on the chair, and once they were departed from the planet (he silently entered the coordinates to the planet, for Rey wouldn’t have known its location), he disappeared in search the kitchen-like section of the ship. Luckily it had one. And luckily they had food from which he could make something better than a sandwich from. A couple of baked potatoes in their jackets, mashed slightly inside with a fork, a cut spring onion and some shredded cheese on top and some small piece of beef with some mini green salad on the side and it was ready in an hour. He set the two plates on the small bench and called Rey’s name across the ship, not bothered to go find her.

Sitting down himself, he started on the meal, looking tired and rather distant in his thoughts. He hadn’t said anything to her since they boarded it, but now it was probably a good time to let her know where the hell they were going. He waited for her to show up to eat, following her with his eyes as she sat down.

“Are you absolutely sure that’s what the paper says?” He asked, moving the food around the plate with his fork, “It’s one hell of a dangerous place.”

Rey returned to the cock pit, plopping down in her seat as she studied the horizon. Sandwich in one hand, she alternated between taking a bite and reading over the paper. The answer to the riddle was clear: go to this location and there, answers will be revealed. Whatever the hell that meant. Rey sighed once she finished her sandwich and carefully folded the paper back up, tucking it into one of the pockets of her pants. It wouldn't do to read the stupid riddle for a thousandth time, the answer wasn't going to change

Having been lost in her thought, Rey jerked to alert in her chair when she heard her name. Of course it would only be Xander but she had been so far deep in thought that anything would have been enough to startle her. She turned the auto pilot on before standing. She went in search of Xander, raising an eyebrow when she spotted him in the kitchen. A remark slipped to her tongue and she barely caught it in time. her sandwich wasn't good enough? Never mind, she wasn't going to deny food.

Rey was quiet as she took a seat, her face scrunching as she studied the plate in front of her. Of all the strange foods that she had happened across in the past few days, the little bits of yellow string had to be st the top. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she plucked one of the half melted pieces of cheese from the potato. She sniffed it before flicking it into her mouth.

Her eyes shot to Xander when he spoke, almost looking like a deer caught in headlights. "The paper basically says that answers will be revealed when we reach that place," she answered, shrugging her shoulders as she cut into her steak. "It can't be so dangerous that we'll die... Luke wouldn't send us on a suicide mission."

Xander watched her sniff and flick the cheese. “Cheese.” He said simply, wondering if all she really ever was just Jakku-dust in water. Did this girl never see food other than whatever fake dirt muesli she was given? He wouldn’t hold it against her, but it was still amusing in some way. So simple. So dumb. So- He broke the train thought off and covering his eyes as if her answer was a light that was too damn bright and he did not want to see.

Suicide mission was exactly what is was. “Except it is.” He pulled his hand away and looked at her, “Vers Moun T’Chae isn’t even frequently visited by the people it was meant for, it’s not a walk in the park.” He didn’t know how else to put this. “Everything on that planet has the ability to kill you.” He stabbed his fork into his potato and watched it fall apart. He didn’t get it. Why would Luke send them there if it was so dangerous? Did he know they were coming? Did he know that Rey wasn’t coming alone? Impossible. If Rey went alone she’d have no idea of this place and she’d also probably die in it.

He halved the potato and finished one half of it, having some of the beef in between. Rubbing the edge of the plate with his thumb thoughtfully he added, “The creatures, bugs, whatever – even fauna – in there are dangerous. I don’t want you going in thinking it’ll be as easy as that rock climb.” He looked at her. “The place is selective for force-sensitive persons only, even then… for them, you, me, its dangerous.” He looked away. Why did he feel the need to tell her this? Because Leia would certainly kill him if Rey died. Did he care if Rey died? Maybe only a little since he didn’t wish her any deaths or harm not matter how annoying she could be. Besides, he wasn’t even ready himself to go there. For a variety of reasons.

Rey's eyes narrowed as her gaze shot to Xander. There he went again, underestimating what she was capable of because of her past. Just because she had very little training in regards to fighting and a bit of experience didn't mean she was capable. She was tired of him, and she was sure others, underestimating her. It was total bullshit - she hadn't survived on Jakku for no reason. Reaching for her glass of water, she took a sip, trying to pick her words carefullY. She slammed the glass down, causing water to splash out of the edges.

“Vers Moun T’Chae won't be any worse than I imagined. I didn't think that the little rock climb we just went on was going to be easy. I didn't think being captured by Kylo Ren was going to be easy and it wasn't. I didn't think escaping was going to be easy and it was. I didn't think that you being the leader of a group that Leia insists of having aide from would be easy. And here we are, it's not," she muttered the last bit more to himself than anything. She shoved her fork into the mashed potatoes. She hated feeling like she had to prove herself because that was exactly how she felt and to Xander no less.

"What is the very worst that could happen? We go to this planet and we try to find the temple. We either die trying or we succeed. We live on to fight another day and we will stand up to Kylo. We will find a way to end the war whether you like it or not, the temple needs to be visited. That was what this entire mission was about, wasn't it? Finding Luke Skywalker and he said that we need to go to the temple to find him. "

Xander would have jumped at the glass slam but he saw it coming and wasn’t surprised. Okay, here we go again. He tried not to roll his eyes as she went ahead and made a point that she was oh so stronger than people thought and oh so more special.

“Except you literally dragged me here. You might have death wishes to find this Luke, I certainly don’t.” He pointed out, slightly leaning across the table to give her a hard look. “There’s a difference between you and me here, I don’t give a crap for where he is and I honestly don’t care if we find him or not – but you-“ He lowered the fork and instead of saying anything else, he took another bite of his food and kept his mouth shut. There was absolutely not use getting all riled up and angry right now. Take Nikolai away from him and he was like a wild child set free to spill dirt and throw dirt and probably eat dirt too. And this girl, oh this girl, kept stirring him up. And he certainly didn’t want to go to this planet.

He huffed and busied himself with the food, standing once he was done. He had done all in his will not to abandon his plate, because that was childish and he would not sink to a level that low. Not yet. Nikolai had done a lot to hammer that in.

Maybe he was scared. A little. He would so much more rather go into a fight against twenty people than visit this planet, because at least people were predictable. This planet was not. He had heard enough and knew enough. Wary, maybe with common sense more than terrified, but still unsettled and uneasy.

Rey dropped her fork when Xander leaned across the table, leaning in just a bit herself. When he stopped his sentence, she arched a brow but said nothing for at least a few beats. "Fine. We have two options then. I drop you back on D'Qar. Or you sit on the ship and wait two days for my return. If I don't return, you leave. So you don't have to worry your pretty little heart about possibly dying," she scowled as she stood, grabbing her glass of water. She stepped away from the bench and grabbed her plate with her free hand. "Thanks for the food," she muttered under her breathe as she turned to walk away.

Settling back into her seat, she held her glass between her thighs as she continued eating. She had abandoned the steak after four bites, deciding that it was a strange texture. Something about it was too weird. Finishing off her food, she tossed it into the garbage can not too far away, keeping her fork so she would further dissect it while she piloted.

---

At some point, Rey had flipped the auto pilot back on, hoping to get a few hours of sleep at least, before their arrival. The closer they grew to the planet, the more uneasy she grew. She could tell Xander was nervous but he had been that way from the very beginning, from before they had even departed D'Qar. She wasn't going to let his mood decide what her mood was.

The console started beeping, alerting the occupants that it was still in autopilot and they were approaching their destination. Someone needed to land it. Rey jerked awake, looking around for a moment before she realized what was happened. Sitting up, Rey flicked the autopilot off and focused on the job at hand.

He didn’t say anything in return. He just kept his mouth shut. He would be more than happy to sit and wait but he couldn’t let a girl like her – untrained and unknowing and stubborn – go off. If she were going to die, he kind of wanted to see it. As mean as it was. Xander let her leave, and too retreated into his own room and sat there for a while, gathering thoughts and doing general meditation to find peace in himself again – as lame as it sounded, it was a thing he had to do. Hours may have passed, he didn’t know, but eventually the autopilot was turned off and the ship slowed and changed its direction and Xander drifted to the cockpit for landing, watching on passively but without any glum expression this time.

They landed well and truly in the middle of a clearing of a forest, Xander commenting only to not land in the grassy fields that deceptively promised solid ground – but were actually marshes with sinking holes. Even from inside the ship, Xander could feel a presence on this planet like no other. The presence was like someone was right there behind him – but nobody was. The same feeling described in many reports by those who came here.

He changed into boots that went up to just past his knee, not for fashion but for safety and for protection, although they – like everything else – still looked nice on him. They sat tight around, not letting anything in. He took a staff (with a blade on one end, it was more like a thick spear), and wrapped a scarf around his lower half of his face, covering his nose and mouth. For pants he had chosen something a little thicker, and they sat slightly ruffled up around his thigh, and his upper half clad in a vest with a collar high enough that if something were to wrap around his neck it would not get close to his skin and thus not choke him. His arms showed no skin either and his hands gloved, and there was a stash of knives and whatnot all tucked away and hidden. He didn’t care if Rey thought he was over-armed, he was armed to the teeth because out there, you either live or die. In all, he looked more like a modern space pirate ready to raid a village than any leader or jedi going to search for a Luke Skywalker.

His dark eyes landed on Rey. “I’d do the same if I were you.” He said and glanced at the nature outside. It was green and pretty but there was a haze in the air. Already he could see at least three snakes hanging like vines off trees. “Don’t touch, don’t eat, don’t drink anything. Simple stuff.”

Rey felt so very sick to her stomach as she caught sight of the planet Luke had pointed them to. There was no mistaking, once she had laid eyes on the greenery, that it was deceptively pretty. The first thing that she noticed was the green tinged fog that covered seemingly the entire planet. Once she landed, the fog was what prompted her to pull off out the thick scarf that had protected her on Jakku. Wrapping it first around her neck and then her head, Rey slipped the goggles on, resting them stop her head. Slipping the leather jacket she had been gifted just the day before on, Rey made sure to zip it up and then the buttons were buttoned, too. Once she was satisfied that she was adequately protected, Rey reached for a bayonet to clip onto the end of her trusted quarter staff. The only thing still showing was her hands and she thought it to be acceptable, she needed to be able to use them after all.

"You mean the stuff on this planet is more dangerous than the cheese from earlier? That stuff looked like some kind of poison" Rey asked, sarcasm dripping from her voice. As she put the ramp down, Rey lowered the goggles over her eyes and leaned down to give BB-8 strict instructions that if either of them returned without the other hat it was alright to let them in - if they needed to leave, they would leave.

Once off the ship, Rey scowled at the ramp as it was brought back into the ship. With a resounding bang, it locked shut and Rey's shoulders tensed. No going back now. She drew in a deep breathe and glanced toward Xander, glad that she was more or less covered from head to toe. He wouldn't be able to see how apprehensive she was of this entire situation, even if he could sense it. "Any clue what direction we should head in or is this just a hide and seek mission?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. Her grip tightened on the staff in her hand. It was better suited there, the few seconds it would take to unclip from her back could very well be the difference between life and death.

Xander looked at her blankly, "It was cheese. But yes." He, too, put on some goggles on and pulled them down over his face, tucking a bit of scarf under to keep the material held up.

The outside was rather warm. He knew that it wouldn't be long before both of them got hot under their clothes and the urge to pull it all off would be great, but that was when the fauna and nature would strike and that would be the end of them. He stood in the small clearing and took a small breath. "Use your Force, you should feel a pull to the temple."

The only thing that was pulling here though was him on her leg. There was no pull of the Force to no temple, the direction was north west from here and they would just have to go in that general direction. This place didn't exactly have crossroads or paths. He turned away from her after a few seconds, looking down at the compass in his hand before tucking it away and starting down one path. "This way." Xander called over his shoulder, pushing a few vines out of the way with his staff after checking they weren't snakes and ducking under them to continue on.

There was no path. If animals ever walked here, it was scarcely for there was no animal-made track either. As they walked he would make 2 small marks on trees at two different locations, one a little lower and the other higher just in case a vine decided to grow over - and with the speed vines moved here, it was quite possible. He slowed at one point, and waited for Rey, gesturing at a small group of sky-blue flowers with white centres growing in a somewhat wonky circle. "See those?" he gestured with his staff and picked up a nearby rock, lightly chucking it to the flowers. The rock landed heavily in the circle of the flowers and suddenly the ground fell down and something snapped up the rock like a bear trap. It rotated a little in its spot and sank back into the ground, now a dark brown bulb like an unopened flower.

"Don't step in those."

Rey was already ready to take her protective gear off. Her home planet of Jakku had been dry, there was no such thing as air being so thick that you felt like you were swimming as you walked. But that's exactly what she felt like as she took her first few steps off of the ship. His words caused her heart rate to quicken. She hoped that he wasn't depending on her to locate the temple because the only thing she was sure she felt was an oppressive feeling that felt like it was slowly suffocating her. She said nothing though, still turning in a slow circle to get a better bearing on her surroundings.

When Xander pointed in a general direction, Rey was all too happy to turn and follow him obediently. This planet was even stranger than D'Qar, there was so much greenery. The vines that covered so much of the horizon hit or miss as to whether they were a vine or a snake that blended in to its surroundings. The thought was enough to send goosebumps down her arms, the only snakes that she had ever come across were small little vicious poisonous things. Nothing that would wrap its body around you and squeeze until you couldn't hope to take another breath.

Rey almost ran into Xander when he stopped in the middle of the path, opening her mouth to yell at him for not giving her any sort of warning that he was going to stop. Her eyes followed the rock that he tossed and instead, she let out a yelp of surprise, jumping backward, away from the trap plant. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, beneath her goggles. She raised a hand to her chest, placing it on the center of her chest. Her heart felt just about ready to beat out of her chest.

"Chubba, what the hell is that?" Her words were a bit more shrill than she would have preferred. Rey shook her head, holding up her free hand. "Never mind. I don't want to know. I just want to get this planet over with," she muttered the last bit under her breath as she turned back to him. Rey took a deep breath, turning her attention back to him and giving a nod of her head. "Let's go. Neither of us want to be here any longer."

Xander looked behind him at the girl as she yelped. He could see her wide eyes and he smirked lightly. Alright, maybe he liked that look on her. Full of surprise and fear and eyes wide. Nothing too sadistic, he didn't want her in pain, just shocking and scaring her now and then was fun. Doing that to a lot of people was fun, especially Nikolai, whom after scaring you run like hell and hide for three days. Rita was… unaffected, so getting a reaction out of her was impossible. But this on Rey? She got under his skin, and it was spite.

He had to be honest with her though at that plant situation, he didn't know the plant's name, but he had seen it in many books, and knew exactly what to watch out for. "I'll be honest I don't know either. Just a ring of blue flowers." He looked at her hand on her chest and shook his head with a small chuckle, but didn't say anything, continuing to walk when she urged them on.

Her swearing put him in an even better mood. He walked ahead with the grin on his face. "Tsk, children shouldn't swear." He said, stepping around and out of reach of other smaller circles of blue flowers, and suspicious looking vines and loops. Using the staff to part ferns and vegetative growth so he could see the ground, he definitely made sure to test the ground he walked on before stepping. Once or twice he narrowly avoided stepping into a trap made by a vine that would pull him up sharply into the air and then slowly towards the open mouth of a huge carnivorous flower hidden up above.

Occasionally something would fall somewhere in the dense jungle-like forest, and Xander would look and stop and listen. But it was probably nothing more than a carcass of some poor animal that happened to go up into one of these plants.

Rey scowled as she glared at Xander's back, her free hand balling into a fist. If she just stepped forward and gave him a good, hard shove in the right direction she wouldn't have to deal with him any longer... but that was a God awful idea. She needed him to survive, even if she wanted to try and deny that idea. She huffed, following after him. "I am not a child! I am twenty years old and I was surviving just fine by myself on Jakku!" She shouted after him, starting to lose care in the way she stepped. She was hot and aggravated and what made it worse was that with each step that she took, that feeling that someone was right there continued to intensify. Something was just around the corner, she knew it.

Xander lifted a vine and disappeared beyond it. She let out a quiet groan as she stepped to the side of the small path he had made, seeing that if she just stepped around, with her height, she could avoid the vine altogether. Before she really knew what had happened, Rey was dangling upside down, flailing around in the air. She stared down at her staff that she had dropped as she was yanked upward, her eyes going wide. She tried to launch herself further up so she could cut the vine but she just couldn't reach.

Rey really, really didn't want to call for Xander. She almost considered just leaving it, he would continue on and maybe he would get so lost that she never had to see him again. Of course that would have meant certain death for her but at that very moment, to ask Xander for any sort of real help, death was preferable. Rey held out a hand, trying to will the staff to her grip. Groaning as she gave up, realizing it wouldn't work, Rey closed her eyes.

"Xander," she called, her voice quiet. No one would hear her like that. "Damn it. Xander!" The second time around, she yelled his name as loud as she was willing to venture. Rey was swinging back and forth, still trying to launch herself up far enough that she could grab onto the vine above where it was wrapped firmly around her ankle. "Xander!"

Xander could hear the aggravation in her voice and he found a lot of satisfaction in it. "Child," he sang, ducking under a vine for he saw a small trap and decided to not step around. It was all fine and well, he heard something rush but since a lot of things were moving in this jungle, this one particular quiet rush he did not bother to check and kept walking.

He would kept walking if he didn't pause to realise that he didn't hear Rey huffing behind him anymore and turned around to see the space behind him empty. He raised an eyebrow, and briefly a moment of panic (where did she go!?) flashed in him. Then he heard her yell his name. It sounded forced and rather strained as if she didn't want to call him but had to. He suddenly guessed, and with a smug grin he returned to the location, brushing a few leaves aside to see Rey dangling mid air. She was quite high. Her head was at level with his, but considering she was upside down, it was a long way to fall for her. Xander didn't step in to help right away, instead scanning the area for any other dangers and then looking up to try find the hidden plant. He saw its shadow and gently whistled, looking back at Rey and then her staff beneath her.

"What was that about surviving, child?" Hell, if she was gonna call him buddy, he'd call her child. It seemed to irritate her. So good. He walked around the clearing, taking off his goggles so he could see and assess the area better, taking his time and watching her dangle before finally walking up to her and standing in front of her face. It was strange looking at someone upside down.

"I'll be honest," he said softly, looking her in the eye and leaning in a little, as if he were about to tell her a secret. "I have no idea how to get you down. I have about 40 minutes and then you're gonna be in that plant's mouth."

He ran his gaze down, or up, her body to where the vine had grasped her ankle. He could cut that off, but he couldn't reach. There were no trees nearby to climb on and reach either. If he did manage to cut the vine, Rey would fall and land on her head and possibly break her neck. Xander stepped back, lifted his own staff up to the vine. He could only just reach. "I might cut your foot off, please don't scream?" He suggested, and without a word, swung the blade at the vine. Unfortunately, the vine was thicker and tougher than he thought it would be, and the blade only managed to half-cut it. The plant reacted, jerking Rey up more, and another vine sent down to tangle her foot all the tighter. Xander reached up and tickled Rey's palm, the only thing he could reach now.

This was all sure amusing, and he was sure it was expressed on his face. "Make that thirty minutes."

"What in the hell are you waiting for?!" Rey demanded as she watched him pace around the clearing. She twisted around, trying to swing in his direction just so she could get close enough to hit him. Each time that she thought she was just close enough, the vine would pull her backward. Still struggling to pull herself upward even with him just right there, Rey's will wavered when he mentioned having no clue how to get her down. If Xander didn't have a clue then her chances were slimmer than she had realized because at least his feet were on the ground.

Rey was quiet now as she studied his movements. Her breath hitched as he reached with his staff, knowing full well that this could go so far south in only a matter of moments. "Shut up and focus," Rey hissed through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed. God, she wanted to just wring his neck. What relief that would have been.

A scream sounded before she could even consider what had happened as she was yanked a good three feet or so up. Rey started to pant, squirming from side to side as she stared down at Xander. Of all the ways that she could die, this wasn't what Rey had pictured in the past. There was no way that a fuckin' plant was going to be what killed her. Nope. Rey hiccuped, forcing a laugh through her lips to hopefully cover up the former noise.She felt absolutely helpless, not something that she was used to feeling and it was getting to her far easier than she would have liked.

"Don't you have a knife or a blaster or something that can hit the plant in the tree?" Rey asked, voice strained as she bent her neck so that she could stare at the vines that had encircled her ankle. "Give me a knife and I'll cut the fuckin' thing myself. I don't care! Just get me out of this damn tree before I die because of some stupid plant on this stupid green planet!" She shouted, not caring very much about how Xander would react. So long as she got free at some point, Rey didn't care about very much at all. "Please," she breathed finally, the plea barely loud enough to be considered a whisper.

What was he waiting for? Xander wasn't waiting for anything. He was simply enjoying watching her struggle. Could he do that? In the ship that is? String her up and she'll leave him alone? That was mean. But it was a thought he did greet before making it hurriedly go away.

Focus wasn't something he needed to do much, he only said it to frighten her a little more than necessary. With his aim he'd have to try to miss, not the other way around. Xander looked at his blade thoughtfully when that didn't work. "A knife? You can't cut that." He tapped his spear's blade lightly as if to prove that his hadn't worked so hers definitely wouldn't, since she'd barely even have the strength to stay up long enough. And not because she was weak, he doubted he'd be able to do it himself too. "Won't work."

Though a blaster was a different story. He didn't bring one, (why would he need to blast anything in a forest, like come on), but the spear in his hand built on her idea. He balanced it, looked up at the plant. He had no idea where its parts were, or even its main borders. This was one hell of a guess. He took a few steps back, aimed and threw the spear up, propelling it with Force. It disappeared into the canopies. A second later there was a loud 'thunk' and a pop, as if something burst. Xander saw the vine slacken, and quickly used the Force to grab Rey before she fell on her head, suspending her midair and pushing her out of the way, dropping her off on her feet on the other side of the clearing as fluid and carcasses fell down, luckily none hitting none of them - else he'd have to walk with the stench and that would be unbearable.

Xander twisted his lips and looked at the mess in between them. He pushed a few things aside with the Force as to avoid touching yuck and hovered out his and her staffs, throwing them to the side in disgust. Only then did he think to check on Rey. "You all good?" He asked, pulling his scarf up a little more and wishing to move away from this pile of stench.

"I don't care! You have to do something!" Rey shouted in reply. She honestly didn't care how he got her down. If it meant climbing a tree and Tarzaning over to her tree where he would hack away at the vine until she was free, she was perfectly happy with the idea. If it meant that he was going go back to the ship and find a blaster, so long as he was back in time, Rey didn't really care. So long as she got free at some point.

Rey had expected the vine to loosen and she would be lowered down to the ground by Xander. She hadn't expected to start falling without warning but in retrospect, she really should have. She let out another sharp scream as she started to fall, only going silent once Xander caught her. Rey only began to relax once her feet were back on solid ground. Paying no mind to Xander, she knelt down so she could rest her head on her knees. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing for as long as time would allow. She jerked back to reality at the sound of Xander's voice. She sniffed as she stood hurriedly, giving a slight nod of her head. "Fine," she muttered, not wanting to seem weak to him.

Rey was silent as she brushed her clothing off, forcing herself to continue moving. She was skeptical all over again. If it had been up to her, and if there hadn't been an entire world depending on them finding Skywalker, Rey would have turned around right then and gone home. Right back to Jakku, told Xander to keep the Millennium Falcon and returned to her life as a scavenger. It wasn't a safe life by any means but at least she knew what to expect. This planet compounded with the past few days was beginning to prove to her that there was quite a bite that she didn't know. Even more that she wasn't prepared for.

Stepping over to her staff, Rey said nothing as she picked it up, ignoring the guts that covered it. She had seen worse before, this didn't matter. So long as she could hurry up and get off of this Godforsaken planet, Rey would be happy. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and looked up to Xander. "Can we just get this over with? I'm tired of this jungle," she spat out the words, glaring at the tree that she had previously been dangling in.

Xander really shouldn't have been finding this all as amusing as he currently was. Any normal sane person would understand that Rey had just gone through a really scary situation and almost died, but Xander was here finding this stupidly amusing. Though he did, out of politeness, hide the grin from forming again on his lips. He picked up his spear and brushed off what best he could with a nearby leaf.

"No need to get angry at me," Xander said calmly, fixing his gloves and wiping his goggles with a shrug, "You were the one rushing here with eager, and even proposed I stay back at the ship." He pointed out. Imagine that. She'd be stuck here and dead by a plant if she were alone. Hell, maybe earlier - for she wouldn't have known all those blue flowers and what not. He started down the path he had walked already, continuing to make it and brushing plants and vines aside. It was all quite tedious. The sun was high in the sky, and he hoped it wouldn't be long now. He'd like to get back before dark. If the place was dangerous during the day, he didn't want to imagine it at night!

They walked for an hour, or maybe two, but once another clearing popped up - there was a beautiful crystal lake surrounded by rocks too - Xander stopped and abruptly turned to sit down on a nearby rock. His goggles pulled up, he set his weapons down and leaned back, closing his eyes. "Rest. Break. I'm tired." It was really humid and hot.