(Part 2)
Jak awoke from his sleep, sheets soaked in sweat again. He reached for his scarf, and wiped the sweat from his face.
Years has passed, and he still had the same dream. He has tried so hard to move on with his life, but it seems that the past won't let him go.
Jak got up from his bed and put on some clothes. Normally walking around half-naked on the ship wouldn't be a problem for him, but there was a stranger now aboard the ship, and walking around with just undershorts would cause an awkward scene.
Jak flipped a switch, and his bedroom door opened, and immediately Jak could smell something coming from the kitchen.
That was strange considering that Sig doesn't usually cook this early. Jak poked his head looking towards the cockpit. Moz was asleep in the pilot's chair...again.
Jak walked towards the kitchen area to see what the smell was. And to his surprise, the new girl, Nya was making breakfast. She was wearing a black t-shirt and shorts, wearing her curly red-hair untied this time.
She saw Jak walking in, and sent him a gentle smile.
“Hi.” She said.
“Howdy, and good morning.” Jak responded smiling. “A bit early for breakfast isn't it?”
“Moz told me that everyone takes turns doing stuff. I figured it was about time that I did something around here.”
“Appreciate that, but you really didn't have to do this. “
“Why not?” She asked.
Jak started to feel his cheeks warm.
“Well...it's just...Cooking is what we do. Me, Sig, and Moz.” Jak said.
“So you don't think I can cook?”
“No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying...”
Nya pulled a chair and gestured to it. “Here. Sit down.”
Jak looked at her kind of puzzled.
“C'mon.” She insisted.
Jak hesitated, but he walked towards the chair and sat down.
Nya walked towards kitchen cabinets, and grabbed a bowl, and a ladle. She used to ladle to pour something into the bowl, Jak couldn't tell what it was.
Nya placed the bowl in front of Jak. Inside the bowl was something that looked like green grits mixed with bacon, and eggs.
Nya handed a spoon to him. Jak looked up to her , She was smiling down at him. Obviously she was proud of...whatever it was, Jak thought.
He dipped the spoon in the bowl, swirling around the mixture. After a while Nya just got tired of it.
“You'll have to bite the food, the food won't bite you, Mr. Rider.” She said with a offended tone in her voice.
Jak bit his lip and closed his eyes, chuckling with slight embarrassment. The girl had been quiet for the most part, and whenever she spoke, she was very nice and gentle. But now it seemed that Jak was about to face her bad side.
Jak slowly lifted the spoon to his mouth, and tasted the food, and to his surprise... it was really good. He started eating more and more.
He looked at Nya, she was smiling more than she ever had since she had been on board.
“What do you think?” She asked.
Jak nodded his head positively, “It's really good.”
“Are your doubts gone now?”
Jak chuckled. “What I was saying before Ms. Nya is...”
“It's just Nya. Okay?” She said. “I don't care for a title.”
“Understood.” He said. “What I was saying...Nya, is that Sig, Moz, and Myself are accustomed to the current routine that we have in place. You don't have to cook if you don't want to. We'll handle that ourselves.”
“I want to do something here. I would kind of feel like a burden if I didn't do something.” Nya responded.
“We appreciate what you've done these past two weeks. The ship has been running smoother since you came along.”
“Thanks. I appreciate you saying that. And also...Thank you, for you know...”
Jak gave her a confused look. “For what?”
“For saving my life, and getting me out of Jabba's palace.”
Jak waved the thanks away. “Like I said before, you defied a Hutt for us. And I think you've earned your spot here with what you've done in the past couple of weeks.”
Nya smiled, and gave a slight chuckle.
“What's so funny?” Jak asked.
“It's just... A lot of people wouldn't thank someone for not killing them.”
Jak gave a slight chuckle of his own. “Well we are a weird bunch.”
“What do you guys do for fun here?” Nya asked.
“We like to train.”
“Okay, what do you do for fun that doesn't cause physical pain?” She rephrased.
“That's...A good question.” He said. “And one that I really don't have an answer to.”
“No sort of recreation?”
“We have a shooting dummy in engine room.”
Nya grimaced. “I've never fired a blaster before.”
Jak frowned at her. “What?” He said with disbelief in his voice.
“I've never used a blaster before.” She said again.
“Well that's going to change.” Jak said getting up from his chair.
Jak took her by the hand, and went into the engine room.
“If you're going to travel with us, You're going to need to learn how to use a blaster.” Jak said.
***
Bikak hands were shaking. Blood covered his hands....Twi-lek blood, the blood of his family! He clinched his hands into tight fists.
“Bikak!” A strong voice said.
He looked up to see his cousin and leader of Rutian clan, Jikin looking at him with concern.
“What happened?” Jikin said.
Bikak just stared at him. Jikin looked to his second in command and Bikak's sister Artia. She nodded and approached her scared younger brother. She knelt to one knee and placed her hand on his shoulder.
“Bikak.” She said. “Tell us what happened.”
Bikak looked at her, tears flowing from his eyes.
“We were getting crates off the smugglers ship, and then all of a sudden we were attacked by a Sniper.” He said.
“Did you spot him?” She asked.
“Yeah. He was a Lethan!” He said.
Artia stared at her younger brother, forehead creasing. “Are you sure?” She asked.
Bikak was about to respond, but Jikin spoke first. “Of course it was! Who else could it be?”
Artia looked at Jikin and then back to her brother. “Wait outside, while we talk about this, okay?”
Bikak nodded and left the room, still shaking from what had transpired only hours earlier.
Artia stood up and looked at her cousin. “We need to look into this a bit more before we start blaming the Lethan.”
“And while we are sitting here, they are out there waiting to strike.” Jikin snapped.
“We don't know that...”
“You just heard your own brother confirm it was a Lethan.”
“He's scared! He just witnessed his family members die. He's not in the right state of mind.”
“Maybe he's not the only one!” Jikin barked back.
For a moment, the two just stared at eachother. Jikin broke the silence.
“You need to open your eyes, Artia! War is coming!”