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The life of a happabore was a dull one. While some spent their lives pulling ice sledges to carry princes and princesses, not all were fortunate to live a life of luxury. One that was born on Jakku? Even more monotonous than their cousins on other planets and they would never know of their potential stuck on that barren wasteland.
One happabore in particular had no idea how significant his existence was going to be towards the future of the galaxy. If he did then maybe it would numb the pain of being enslaved and traded on Jakku to various mercenaries from an early age.
Alas, being a docile creature that he was, the happabore in question took years of abuse without complaint…
...until he met an extraordinary human who changed his life forever.
-
I wake before the sun has risen, my master jabbing me with his sharp rod that makes my body cry. The pain isn’t new but every time it happens, it’s always a surprise. No happabore can get used to this feeling, and it looks like neither can the others in the camp.
Cracking an eye open, I see my masters standing outside my pen, the leader holding up his arm to flash his controller at me meanicingly. The collar around my neck is a heavy reminder of what I am and what my job is. Not wanting to anger my masters, I move towards them, head bowed low to allow them to slip a harness over me. It’s not long before the familiar pressure of cargo weighs me down.
My masters talk to each other in a foreign language, nothing but noises to my ears before one of the more scrawny ones dig their claws into my skin to get onto my back. I want to complain but any sound I make results in magic being cast upon me. I learnt this early on when I was younger and didn’t know better. My master - the leader - had looked at me in disgust before pain overtook my body. My master could somehow control me without laying a finger on me.
It scared me.
I learned to live with it.
It was all I knew, all I was shown.
This was my life.
-
There’s a new addition to the camp.
I saw them drag him into a tent early in the morning before being tossed outside hours later.
The man looks interesting.
There’s a fire within him, something I have never seen.
He fights back, which is unusual. Doesn’t he know that it’s useless?
No one makes a move to help him. I don’t either.
There’s not point.
Master shoots him in the face and I wince. Poor soul.
-
Poor soul turns out to be a kind soul.
He’s rough when loading my cart but stops when I let out a low moan. He looks...regretful, and is careful when packing my wagon with crates.
This is the second unusual thing that has occured today.
-
There’s something different about the newcomer.
He doesn’t mingle with the others and stays to himself.
I’m given a merciful day of rest but it’s still hard - I’m given minimal water, barely enough to coat my large tongue. I rest for the day and try not to move; I don’t have the energy to waste.
I watch him the following day from my pen.
He is like a pup, curious and doesn’t listen to the masters. He looks into every tent before he’s forced to the graveyard. The leader of the masters joins him with a limp body being dragged behind them. The body is tossed into the ditch and the master laughs. The newcomer stays silent.
Nothing much happens the rest of the day until the sun nears the horizon. To my surprise, the newcomer comes towards me. He lays a hand on my snout and there’s no pain. He’s deep in thought as he pets me, a faraway look in his eyes.
Master joins us and before I know what’s happening, my snout is on fire.
I roar in pain and try to pull away but it hurts to move. Why, Master? Why?
The newcomer looks livid and I don’t know why. He’s not in pain so why is he angry?
Finally, Master rips his fist from my nostril and even though it still stings, I can breathe again.
What’s even more surprising is when the newcomer jumps towards Master, as if...to fight him?
Master has magic and power. The newcomer has nothing.
The newcomer loses, as expected.
He doesn’t move.
Even when Master leaves, he doesn’t move.
I try to make some noise, something to make him wake. He cracks an eye open and smiles weakly at me. He has to follow the others. It’s not safe outside at night. The newcomer’s body looks weak and will perish from the nighttime cold.
When he’s strong enough, he gets to his knees and strokes my nostril. His touch is gentle and doesn’t hurt me, surprisingly. There’s blood but it doesn’t bother the newcomer.
“Tomorrow. Tomorrow will be different,” he promises, but I don’t understand.
This newcomer is very unusual indeed.
-
There’s something about the newcomer when he approaches me the next day that I do not understand.
He looks energetic.
More alive than I had ever seen.
There’s determination in his eyes. So much spirit.
All of the sudden, he starts attacking my cage. What is he doing? Doesn’t he know this will anger them?
As expected, the masters come and they fight, but the newcomer is impressive.
He doesn’t need magic. He breaks their arms and makes them scream, the same way they had made others before.
But it doesn’t matter.
The leader has magic and the newcomer is on the ground again with his body twitching in the sand.
I wail softly. Kind newcomer, when will you learn?
But then the impossible happens.
He breaks from the magic and cripples our master. I cannot move, frozen with wonder at how the newcomer has done this.
He grabs the controller from master’s arm and just like that, the newcomer’s collar falls to the ground.
And then, so does mine.
Without a second thought, I start ramming my snout into my cage. The newcomer has already weakened it so it’s easy to rip it from the sand. I roar and it’s the first time in my life I’ve felt this way. It’s like I can finally breathe. My master doesn’t move from his place in the sand. I can do whatever I want.
Is this...freedom?
“Go!”
The newcomer is strong, his commanding voice snaps me to attention and I charge at the tents. One after the other, they fall until nothing but debris and collars scatter the sand. The other happabores are also free and my master is no more.
We are all free.
-
We are free, so why is the newcomer - a human - trying to go back? If he goes that way, the other master - the one big one with the scavengers - will capture him.
“I need to go to Niima. I need to find Rey.”
No, too dangerous. If ‘Rey’ is with the big one, then it’s a lost cause. I won’t go back.
“Go on without me. You’re free, but I’m not. I still need to get back to her.”
It’s pitiful to see the human try to guess the direction of Niima Outpost. For one, he’s wrong.
I let out a huff and stomp over him, offering my back as transportation. It’s laughable to even try to get there on foot in his state. He must be tired.
“Thank you,” the man says as he hoists himself onto my back.
The journey takes up most of the morning. I don’t feel the man move on my back and I hope he’s merely resting under the harsh sun.
I stop not far from the Outpost and wait for him to get off. I cannot go further. I refuse to go back.
The man dismounts and lays a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Go, before someone sees you.”
I watch as he runs along the outskirts of the Outpost. He looks like he knows where and what he’s doing so I leave him to his fate.
I won’t forget him. How can I? He showed me the most kindness I’ve ever had in my life.
-
It’s odd to be free. I can roam as far as I want with no one to hold me back. No one to harm me.
It feels nice.
-
I have to look for food myself now.
I’ve been in captivity for so long that I can survive on minimal food.
I come across patches of grass but it’s far and few between.
It’s enough for now.
-
I got greedy.
There was some grass by a large object in the middle of nowhere. It looked more thicker and juicer than any I had come across, but it was wedged under the object. A ship, perhaps?
I tried to get it. With my large snout, I nudged the ship until my tongue tasted the sweetness of the grass.
But then something from the ship got wedged up my nose.
No matter how hard I tried, it won’t come out.
There’s nothing I can do but lay in the sand, exhausted and wait for the end.
It hurts to breathe.
Maybe this is what I get for being free?
Freedom doesn’t feel nice anymore.
I wonder what the man is doing now.
-
There’s a noise.
I crack my eye open and see a girl inspecting the ship I’m next to, like so many before her had.
“I can’t move this ship with you here,” she says, placing her hand on my snout like my savior had done.
Their touches are similar and I force myself to not make a sound when she pulls away.
C-Come back.
She circles around myself and the ship repeatedly before trying to push me with her bare hands. I would find it funny if I wasn’t in so much pain.
My eyes slip shut at one point, only to snap open when I feel something stab from within my nose. It’s the girl! Her hand is in my nose!
I’m about to thrash and toss her aside when she puts her other hand up in defence. “No, no! Let’s not do that! I’m trying to help!”
Now there are two hands up my nose, human fingers wiggling about until she cries out, “Got it!”
There’s something building up within me, a pressure that becomes unbearable. I sneeze and the girl goes flying.
I-I can breathe again!
I go to her in excitement and let out a roar. She holds up the offending object, something large and metal, with spikes, and smiles wearily. “You’re welcome.”
-
She’s trying to move the ship on her own, so I help. Her face lights up and together, we drag the ship back to Niima Outpost.
She’s proud of her accomplishment and calls me ‘friend’.
The scavenger master eventually hands over portions to the girl before turning to me. His eyes narrow and I cower, ready to escape when she steps between us.
She doesn’t say anything and her back is to me, but judging from the scavenger master’s face, there’s nothing he can do about me.
“Fine, he can stay.”
As he stomps away, the girl hugs my snout and thanks me again. “There isn’t much food but there’s water and shade. It’s a start.”
This is the second time I have been graced with kindness.
Maybe she and the man who freed me knows each other?
-
Life at Niima Outpost is simple.
I see the girl every day. She always comes in the evening, dragging her rucksack across the sand before handing them over to the scavenger master. Sometimes she’s happy, sometimes she’s not.
Sometimes the scavenger master is happy. Sometimes he’s not.
She always stops by and pets me, to make sure I’m okay. There isn’t much she can do for me, but I’m thankful for her company.
Life at Niima Outpost is simple and I like it.
-
There’s something different about the girl today.
She has a yellow and white orb with her - a droid.
I watch her from my watering hole and the scavenger master tries to give her a bunch of plastic packets for the droid, but she rejects him. The scavenger master is livid.
I see men following her to other parts of the outpost.
I’ve seen the girl fight before.
I snort into the water. They don’t stand a chance.
-
There’s another newcomer, one with dark skin and a brown jacket. He greedily slurps at my water but I’ve seen others do so previously and it never sits well with them. He’s desperate for water but this is not the solution.
I push him aside with my snout and he falls back.
Something captures his attention and he disappears.
-
There’s something happening at Niima Outpost. It might have something to do with the girl and the man from earlier. The one with the brown jacket.
The scavenger master is furious and there are other ships shooting at us.
I run away, away from the firefight, and will return when it is safe again.
I hope the girl is okay.
-
The girl is gone.
She has for many suns.
Niima Outpost is still the same, but the scavenger master is unhappy.
He is also missing an arm.
-
I wonder what the girl is doing now.
She has been gone for so long that there is a new scavenger master.
The previous one was disposed of because he was weak.
The new one looks different but just as ruthless.
My water is dirtier than ever but it still sustains me.
I cannot fall ill like the others do.
I am still okay.
-
The girl is back! She looks happier and well fed. Her face is no longer smudged with sweat and dirt. Her clothes are also different, as is her hair.
She wears a sandy cloak to cover her appearance but I knew it was her the moment she appeared.
She leads me to the outskirts of Niima Outpost and wraps her arms around my snout.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispers before pulling back. “I have news from Ben.”
Who is Ben?
“Give me a ride and I’ll tell you all about it.”
I don’t know what’s happening but I assist her anyways. She’s been good to me so transporting her to wherever she needs to go is a small price to pay.
“It will be a while before Ben can come visit you himself. He sends his regards though and promises life will be better. With any luck, we will be able to get you off Jakku as well.”
These things she says, these promises, they give me hope. Ben must be my savior, the very first person I had met all those suns ago. To see him again...it gives me the burst of energy I need to get to where she wants to go.
“Whoa!” she cries out, body lurching forward when I pick up the pace.
Sand flies past us with the girl directing where to go. It’s not long before we reach her destination.
She slides off my back and nears a mound of sand that looks to be nothing. In fact, it is nothing, until she stops and stares at it for a long time. Then slowly, the mound starts to move, sand falling down the sides to reveal something large and rusted.
“This is where I used to live,” she says.
Anyone would be looking at the spectacle before us but not me. No, I’m watching the girl. She’s doing this. She’s moving the sand without even touching it.
She has the magic, magic more powerful than my first master could ever have. She does not appear to have done anything, but her eyes are unmoving from the object until no more sand leak from its insides.
I watch as she ducks her head and goes inside. From what I can see and hear, she’s looking for something in particular. Something specific.
I creep closer, curiosity getting the better of me.
And...I hear her speak with someone.
But we are the only ones for miles.
If I were human, I would walk inside and see for myself but I cannot. All I can do is remain still and catch parts of her conversation with the nobody.
“--it’s hard seeing this...after realising the truth. Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” She lets out a soft laugh. “No, it’s been raided by the others. None of my stuff is here.”
She moves around inside but it’s too dark for me to see what she’s going.
“Where is it?” she mutters. “It’s worthless. Literally junk. There’s no reason to take it--”
A moment of silence falls before she continues, sadness bleeding into her voice.
“When I find it, you’ll understand why.”
There’s no more talking, only noises of the girl rummaging through her old home.
Her old home is not large at all. She must have gone through the place more than once during the time we’ve spent here, and I begin to wonder what is so important for her to be like this.
Finally, she lets out a cry of triumph, followed by a thud.
I peer inside and squint, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark interior.
She’s sitting on the floor with her back towards me so I can’t see what it is she’s holding, but her body is angled to the side, as if showing her treasure to the invisible someone.
“Because Ben, not everything from the past should die.”
Ben? Ben is here?
I stomp outside to get the girl’s attention, who whips around at my restlessness. The moment her eyes land on me, her head swivels back inside, only to let out an annoyed huff.
The girl reluctantly gets up and joins me outside. There’s a doll in her hand, made of yellow and orange thread. I look at it, confused.
She merely smiles at me and gets onto my back once again. No mention or sight of Ben.
I wail lowly, nudging my head towards her old home.
She misunderstands me. Instead of answering my question about Ben, she waves her hand and controls the sand like it is hers. It moves like water and covers her home like a blanket, buried and unseen.
She doesn’t speak on the journey back to Niima Outpost.
I wish I could speak her language and ask about Ben.
My questions go unanswered.
-
She visits me every few moons.
I find out her name is Rey, the same one who Ben was trying to get back to.
She calls me ‘Happa’.
It’s odd to have a name but she insists on calling me it.
I grow to love it.
It makes me feel special and loved.
Yes...I am loved.
-
There are two new people who accompany Rey. A girl and a boy. The girl has black hair that curls up at the ends and the boy...
Hang on...no. I’ve seen this one before. It’s the man who tried to drink my water, all those moons ago. He looks different now. No longer in need of water. Happier. And healthier.
Like Rey.
The girl with the curls moves towards me eagerly with wide eyes that I take a step back straight away. The only time someone has approached me that fast was to hurt me, but when she lays a hand upon my snout, I realise my worries are for nothing.
“You’re gorgeous,” she coos as she strokes my nose. “How do you know Rey?”
I let out a huff and roll my eyes. Why is she asking me such questions when she cannot understand me?
“I helped him and he helped me when Plutt was still around,” Rey supplies, joining the shorter girl. “We also have a mutual friend.”
The girl snorts but what is interesting is how the man shifts his weight between his feet. He looks uncomfortable at the mention of Ben. I wonder why…
I don’t ponder on it for long. Rey gives me a hug, her arms barely stretching over the side of my body, and whispers something in my ear. “Things are happening. It won’t be long now.”
I let out a noise and she shushes me.
Soon? How soon?
I want to leap and run circles around Rey. I can’t hold in my excitement and stomp my feet; left, right, left, right.
“Whoa! Rey, what did you tell him? He’s so excited!” the unknown girl exclaimed.
“I told him that if things go according to plan, he’s going to be able to leave Jakku.”
“Is that what Ren’s doing?” the man asked, stepping forward, closer towards me to join the others. “How do you know what he’s going to do? It hasn’t even been a week since Poe and the General were done with negotiations.”
Ren? Who’s Ren? Maybe the man meant to say Ben?
“Finn, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” the black-haired girl says. She waves her hands around like Rey had done with the sand over her old home. “The Force probably connects them. That’s how she knows.”
The boy, Finn, looks at Rey nervously. “C-Can he hear and see what you see?”
“What? No! It’s not like that.”
“Oh, so I was right!”
“Rose!”
The girl who must be Rose gasps and grabs onto Finn’s jacket. “Finn, my theory was right.”
“This doesn’t prove anything.”
“No, it totally does! They must be having secret meetings...or maybe…” Rose falls silent for a moment before her lips turn upwards into a knowing smile. “Maybe they’ve been doing something more than just meetings.”
Finn’s face turns an embarrassing shade of red and buries his face in Rose’s hair. Curious. Finn and Rose seem very close. Almost like mates.
I focus on Rey who has been silent for a while now. She’s calm and collected but her hands are behind her back. Hidden from Finn and Rose, she’s wringing her fingers while occasionally bunching the back of her shirt.
“It’s not like that,” Rey says weakly.
I tune out the rest of their conversation and turn to my own thoughts.
Mates.
I never considered Rey and Ben to be mates, but it makes sense now.
Actually, it makes more than perfect sense. I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.
Rey and Ben are mates and the others don’t know yet.
As if sensing my conclusion, Rey throws a small, shy smile at me and my heart soars.
I don’t remember my parents. The first memory I have already had me in a collar. It used to bother me and after knowing the meaning of freedom, a dull ache in my heart had begun, but now? After this? No, not anymore.
I have new parents, ones that have been around longer than I realise.
I start counting suns until I can see Ben again.
-
The ship Rey comes in is different today. Looks newer. Bigger. And...shiny.
It lands before me with steam coming out of its sides. The ramp lowers painstakingly slow that I can’t but wonder if today is the day.
No one emerges for a long time.
And then…
I let out a mighty roar and charge at the figure descending from the ramp.
“Happa!” Ben yells out in shock as I charge towards him.
I skid to a halt so only a small space remains between us. It gives me a chance to look at him properly.
There’s no hair on his face and his clothes are totally different to the scraps he wore back when we first met. He looks to be a different man, but I know better.
He looks serious, mouth in a line with no real emotion on his face, but I know better.
I let out a whine and stomp my feet repeatedly.
Finally, after what feels like a million moons, a smile eventually forms on his face. He slowly walks to me and rests his forehead on my snout.
“Happa,” he repeats again, softer this time. “Old friend. It’s time to go home.” Behind him is Rey, standing at the top of the ramp inside the ship.
Home? Where is home? I don’t care. I just want to be with Ben and Rey.
-
My new home is completely different from my old one. This one is cooler and not as bright. My skin no longer burns and my wounds have been healed by the magic they have here. There is not a grain of sand in sight. Instead, there are tall buildings with large areas of grass for me to roam.
Rose and Finn are here. They come sometimes, with others who’s name I catch. Poe and Kaydel.
A lady accompanies Ben a lot, one with grey hair. She looks much older than the others and himself. There’s a familiarity between them that can only mean one thing.
Mother.
It’s when Ben is with his mother that he cries. So does his mother.
They sit in my sanctuary, curled together as they whisper things to each other. My home is large and open. It’s not right for anyone to see this. I lay down in front of them and shield them from everyone who passes by.
-
I’m able to wander around a lot. Sometimes Rey asks for my help in transporting goods across the city. Sometimes it’s Rose that asks. I don’t mind. The work is a nice break from what I have already. The loads are never unpleasant and I am rewarded with more food I have ever received.
Life is good here.
When I’m out and about, I see Ben sometimes. He always looks busy with a frown upon his face Sometimes Rey is with him, discussing matters of great importance. I can tell by the way they carry themselves. When they’re together with me, they’re relaxed with their hands interlocked. When I see them together within the confines of high rise buildings, they keep their distance from each other. There are no smiles. Poe and Ben’s mother is with them sometimes. Other times Finn is there too. I don’t fully understand the workings of humans or what they discuss and I don’t intend to. I am but a mere happabore, whose existence would have been extinguished had it not been for Ben.
I think my presence here eases him as well.
When the moon is high in the sky, he visits my sanctuary with Rey. They stay close to each other and use my body to rest theirs against. The three of us watch the stars high above us and I feel Ben’s body relax into the night.
Life is good here.
Here is where home is.
I have a home and a family and finally, I can be free.