miner miracle
Rain was a tale as old as time for Andromeda Demir. It had plagued her village on Irvulix, the harsh toxicity etching the wood and concrete of their dwellings, spoiling the wells, polluting the purification barrels if they weren't covered fast enough. Rain that you could stand in -- well, that was new. She had stood, struck dumb with a broad smile on her face, her hand reaching uncertainly into the drizzle. The cool moisture was so much a novelty that she was tempted to pull her hood off, let it soak into her glossy black hair, but Andy didn't know how long the trek would be, and she expected that it would be uncomfortable to have her wet hair and clothes for very long, so she kept her hood up. Her poncho -- there was no elegant way to describe it, which was fine, because Andromeda Demir was a poor miner, only weeks removed from having mine dust under her fingernails, in every wrinkle and crevice on her hands and in places she hadn't known could accumulate the stuff -- was treated to make it water-repellant, so with its hood drawn, she was nigh impermeable to the moisture, except when she reached a hand out to let the rainwater pool in her palm.
She hoped her position toward the rear of the groups mounting the hike would prevent people from seeing the stupid grin on her face each time she did.
Also under her poncho was a small kit with some essentials: two changes of clothes, extra underwear and socks, toiletries, a first aid kid and, strapped to the bottom of the kit, a bedroll. Just in case. It bumped against her rear end as she walked. Idly she wondered whether her pit droid was thinking about her, back in her dormitory in the padawan quarters. Andy didn't know whether the droid could experience that kind of feeling, but she did miss him, even though she hadn't named him yet. He was her link to Captain Baig, with whom she had kept up an epistolary friendship. Baig, she supposed, was her friend. Her only friend, as pathetic as it sounded. As pathetic as it was.
She was thankful for her good, sturdy boots by the time she reached the first marker. The terrain was going to be a challenge even in bright, sunny, dry conditions. Her dark eyes scanned the pathway up the mountain, marker to marker, until she couldn't see anymore. A deep breath, a stretch, and she set about to continue. It wasn't long before sweat trickled down her back from the exertion.
Just like in the mine. And nothing like it.