Kai sat across from Sophie, watching her doze in the shade of the wagon. They had been on the move for almost six hours and the coolness of the morning had given way to scorching temperatures as the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky.
They were not the only occupants of the wagon. A Zabrack couple lounged in each others arms at the back of the wagon whilst two girls were playing a form of card game next to Sophie. They were all naked save for the leather straps and harnesses that they wore. The girls kept glancing curiously at Kai and he felt his cheeks redden every time they did so. He wasn't naked himself, he hadn't earned that right yet according to Sophie, but even in his trousers and boots he still found himself shying away from their stares like some timid Padawan.
The big, shaggy bantha pulling their wagon snorted as its driver pulled on the reins to turn them east. Kai squinted past him into the distance where the ruddy red sand of the desert appeared to blacken and he thought he could see columns of smoke rising in the distance.
"Sulphur pockets," one of the girls said, following his gaze. "We'd choke in minutes if we got too close."
Kai swallowed as he looked at the coiling columns of greenish smoke. Sophie had explained to him the damage caused tot he planet by the Rupture but seeing it up close was something else entirely. A hour or so ago they had come across a ravine that seemed to delve all the way to the planet's core, pockets of lava visible as dim red glows in the darkness of its depths. He had seen radiation storms on the horizon and felt tremors beneath him that had caused the wagons to buck and sway even more than they did normally.
"You've never seen a place like this before, have you, Jedi?"
He turned to the girls, realising that they were both watching him intently. Like most of the Nomads he had met they were very attractive. The first was a blonde with full lips and large breasts. Leather straps bound her arms and thighs and two large ring piercings dangled from her nipples. Her friend was dark skinned, her black hair shaved to stubble on one side of her head and streaked with pink on the other. Straps crisscrossed her body in a diamond pattern, cradling her small but perky breasts and connecting to a collar with a gold buckle around her neck. He tried not to stare at either of their tits as he shook his head quickly.
"No. This planet is broken."
The girls laughed. "You have no idea, Jedi," the blonde said.
"I'm Zara," the dark skinned girl said. "This is Colette."
"Kai," he said weakly.
"We know," Colette said, her eyes darting to his lightsaber. "Is that thing real?"
"My saber?" Kai said, his hand brushing the durasteel hilt unconsciously. "Yes, it is."
"Let's see then," Colette demanded.
He thought he detected an edge to her tone. A bitterness that told him she wasn't entirely convinced by him yet. The wagon had gone very quiet and the two Zabracks were now also watching him curiously from where they lay. Seeing he had no other option, he unhooked his blade from his belt and thumbed the activation stud, the emerald blade erupting parallel to the floor of the wagon.
"Woah!" Zara exclaimed as the Zabrack male let out a low whistle.
There collective wonder at his weapon was enough to make him smile and he gently moved the blade through the air between them, listening to its comforting hum as their eyes followed it intently.
"Can we hold it?" Zara asked, her eyes sparkling.
Had any of the others asked Kai would probably have said no, but Zara was very pretty and he could sense no maliciousness on her part. He carefully deactivated the weapon and held it cautiously out to her.
"Just be careful," he warned.
She took it and let out a little gasp. "It's heavier than I thought," she said, turning the hilt in her hands.
Kai nodded, his smile spreading slightly. He remembered having thought the same thing the first time he had held a saber. His Master had always told him that a lightsaber was more than a weapon. It was a truth that had taken him a long time to comprehend why and one that no non-Force wielder could understand.
"You must be a pretty good fighter," Colette said, taking the lightsaber from Zara and holding it upside down. "No wonder Sophie picked you out."
He frowned, glancing at Sophie's sleeping figure before turning back to the girls. "What do you mean?" he asked.
She gestured to the others. "You're part of the team now," she said. "Why else do you think you get to ride with us?"
"Team?" Kai said. "I don't understand..."
"She not tell him," the Zabrack male grunted.
Colette turned to Kai and cocked her head. "She hasn't, has she?" she said, realisation slowly dawning on her pretty face. "Well, guess the monkey-lizard's out of the bag now... We're raiders and you're part of the squad now."
"Raiders?" Kai repeated, a sense of unease forming in his stomach as he said the word.
She nodded, gesturing around. "Sophie's our captain. Like I said, I'm Colette and this is Zara. The two love birds are Desh and Shayl," she said, pointing to the male and female Zabracks in turn.
"Fuck you, Colette," Shayl hissed. She had pale orange skin the same as Desh. Unlike the others the two of them seemed to be geared for fighting. Their harnesses were attached to leather pauldrons, vambraces and greaves and he could see at least a dozen knives sewn into the straps of their armour between the two of them.
The blonde laughed. "Name the place, Shayl," she said, blowing her a kiss. "You know I'm game." She turned to Kai and smirked, "We're all just one big happy family."
"So it seems," Kai said, his smile faltering. He couldn't work out if she was being sarcastic or not.
"So," Colette continued, now looking him dead in the eye. "You ever fuck anyone with this thing?"
"What?" Kai exclaimed, his cheeks flushing.
She shrugged. "Oh come on," she scoffed. "You must have thought about it! Its like the perfect size!"
"Leave him alone, Col," Zara chided, snatching the weapon away from her friend and passing it back to Kai. "You know what Sophie said."
She grunted, turning a slightly disapproving eye on Kai. "Oh right... You Jedi don't do sex do you?"
Kai shifted uncomfortably. "We are not permitted attachments," he said.
